Made of Stars: Into Darkness
by JanaeSpecter14
Summary: The crew of the Enterprise has established quite a reputation since taking on Nero nearly a year ago. Now, they're going to take on the biggest threat to Starfleet yet. Even if their captain and middle seat are feuding. Jim and Luna are going to take everything on side by side as a couple would, but how is the fighting going to affect that? Sequel to Made of Stars.
1. The Prime Directive

The two hooded figures ran from the natives on Nibiru, but as they ran, they ran into a beast Jim automatically shot from fear. Bones could only throw his hands in the air with annoyance before taking off his hood to give Jim an annoyed stare. "Dammit man!" He screamed it loud enough to alert the natives running after them. "That was our ride! You just stunned our ride!"

Jim sighed while taking down his hood as well. How was he supposed to know? "Ah, great!" The sounds of the natives continued behind them, seeming to catch up. Jim did the only thing he could do now that their ride was done for. "Run!"

Bones didn't waste any time, running as Jim caught up to him, holding onto the scroll in his hands for dear life. "What the hell did you take?!" Bones screamed at him, really wishing he didn't volunteer for this mission.

"I have no idea, but they were bowing to it!" Jim just yelled back at him. Sometimes, he hated being captain, this example one of the many reasons why. He was just trying to save this race! Jim pulled out his communicator, trying to sound as clear as possible despite his running. "Kirk to shuttle one, locals are out of the kill zone! Repeat. Spock, get in there, neutralize the volcano, and let's get out of here!"

Luna took a deep sigh from the Enterprise while going to one of the buttons on the captain's chair. It just so happened that her idiot boyfriend and her idiot father might have been in more danger than Spock about to go into a volcano. "Sulu, you heard him, let's get out of here before Jim and Bones die."

Sulu landed the shuttle on the top part of the volcano, already feeling the heat through the ship. "We have to do this now!" Sulu yelled while quickly undoing his seatbelt, and moving to the back of the ship with Uhura and Spock. "I told the Captain the shuttle wasn't built for this kind of heat."

"Well," Luna sighed, looking in front of her at one of the many sea creatures who wanted to inspect the ship. "You and I know the captain sucks at listening."

"Are you really bringing this up, while I'm running through the jungle on an official mission from Starfleet?" Jim asked through the radio, his voice still out of breath.

Luna smiled while crossing her legs just as Scotty came up to her to give her a coffee mug. "I'm just stating a fact, Captain." She told him before taking a sip of her coffee. "I thought Spock might like it."

"Captain," Spock spoke while getting the last bit of his uniform on, trying to ignore Luna's comment as best as he could. "Did the indigenous life forms see you?"

"No, Mr. Spock," Jim spoke, still annoyed at Luna's interference. "They did not."

"The Prime Directive clearly states there can be no interference with the internal development of alien civilizations." Uhura cracked a little smile while suiting him up. There were some things about Spock that would just never change.

"I know what it says!" Jim yelled, now becoming annoyed with Spock, wishing for just a moment that he would be able to experience _his_ stress levels while accomplishing the Prime Directive. "Which is why I'm running through the jungle wearing a disguise! Now drop off your super ice cube and let's go! Kirk out!"

Luna rolled her eyes at him, being more annoyed with him as of late than anything. Scotty shrugged while taking a sip of his coffee as well. "How long before you think they all die?"

Luna slowly turned to her friend with her brows furrowed. "Don't you have to be in the engineering decks?"

Scotty gave her a dramatic eye roll before doing what she said. "You're bossy as captain." Luna simply repeated what he said in a mocking tone, making him stare at her for a moment in the elevator before going back to his post.

Back on the shuttle, Sulu was getting everything ready for the jump as Uhura continued to make sure Spock was as safe as he could possibly be in a volcano. "If we're gonna do this, we've got to do it now! This ash is killing our coils."

Once Uhura had secured his helmet, she looked up to him, meeting his eyes. "You sure you don't want me to go instead?"

Spock's face twisted into confusion at that notion. "That would be highly illogical as I am already outfitted – "

She looked back up to him with a smile. "Spock, I was kidding."

"Uh,"

He was stopped when Uhura got on her tip toes to kiss the glass on his helmet, fighting not to blush at that. "You got this."

"Guys!" Sulu yelled at them. He wasn't going to deny that they were cute together, but they had to get this done. "We have to go! Now!"

"I'll see you in ninety seconds." Uhura told him with a big smile before hurrying back to the front of the ship with Sulu and shutting the door. When she looked back, Spock opened up the door underneath and fell into the volcano. Uhura would be lying if she said she wasn't nervous.

Jim and Bones continued to run through the jungle, dodging spears and whatever the natives decided to throw at them. "They're trying to kill us!" Bones screeched after nearly missing one of the spears. "They're trying to kill us, Jim!"

Luna looked to the map on the windshield tracking Jim and Bones' location, making her take a nervous breath. How long could they outrun the natives before they actually killed them. "Just keep going, guys, Spock will be done in any moment and we'll get you out of there." She leaned back in her chair, taking deep breaths as Chekov turned around to look at her. She gave him the best smile she could, but she was starting to worry that this mission wouldn't go the way they all thought it would.

Right when Spock was about to be in the belly of the volcano, the engine to the ship overheated. "I can't hold this position." Sulu told everyone on the intercom, panicking everyone in that moment. "Spock, I've got to pull you back up."

"Negative. This is our only chance to save this species. If this volcano erupts, the planet dies."

Part of the ship's engine blew, Luna monitoring the whole thing from the ship. She leaned forward, pressing the button to talk, knowing that right now, the crew was way more important. "Pull him back up. Now!"

Uhura pulled the lever to bring him back up, but the rope linking him to the ship snapped. You could hear the group wide gasp in the Enterprise, Luna not knowing what to do as he possibly tumbled to his death. "Spock, are you okay?" Uhura asked, obviously panicked about his well being while he was trapped at the bottom of a volcano.

"I am," Everyone let out a relieved sigh at the sound of his voice, mostly Luna. She cared about the damn man, and she had no idea what she would do if he had died down there. "Surprisingly, alive."

"We have to get him back." Uhura told Sulu while about to get up from her seat. "I'll suit up. I'm gonna go down."

Sulu turned to her, eyes wide, knowing Uhura wasn't going to like this. "We have to abandon the shuttle."

"We can't just leave him, Sulu!"

"We don't have a choice!" Uhura felt the panic begin to settle in at the thought of leaving him down there. "Uhura, I'm sorry."

She knew that was the right thing to do, but she didn't want to leave him. "Spock, we're going back to the Enterprise. We'll get you out of there."

"Captain, I'm ditching the shuttle." Sulu reported to Jim as both Sulu and Uhura got into their wetsuits to jump out. "You've got to make it to the Enterprise on your own."

"Wonderful!" Jim responded before ducking another spear.

Luna looked around, knowing she had to do something, but it had all just happened so fast. "Okay," she began while getting up from the captain's chair to look at the map in front of her. She would get Jim and Bones out of this, and then they would all be able to work on getting Spock out of the volcano. "You two could make it to the beach, but we don't have that kind of time."

"So, what do you suppose we do?" Bones yelled at her.

She took a deep breath, hating that she was going to suggest this. "Dad, how has your fear of heights gotten?"

"Oh god." He whispered just as Jim was able to stick the scroll on a branch to a nearby tree to distract the natives.

As they continued to run, they could almost smell the ocean. "I hate this!" Bones screamed.

Luna rolled her eyes at her father, going back to the button to talk with them. "Jump or we leave you."

Once they finally got to the edge of the cliff, they didn't waste a moment to jump into the ocean. Luna felt her breath hitch as she watched, terrified that one of them would land on one of the rocks, but they landed in the water with no problems. She let out her breath before standing up and hurrying to meet them.

As she hurried to the bottom levels of the ship, Scotty found her. "So, what was that about me going back to my post?"

"I mean," Luna spoke with a shrug, the two almost to the room the two would end up in. "I did need you back at your post because I need someone to drain the water out of the pod."

"Yeah, but isn't the captain annoying you lately?"

Luna let out a sigh, knowing he was right, but then again, that would be unethical. "Yeah, he is, but my father's in there too, and I'm not going to punish him for Jim's annoyingness."

Scotty let out a little chuckle as they made it to the draining room just in time for the two to get inside. Scotty immediately drained the water for them, giving them a chance to catch their breath before opening up the door to reveal both Scotty and Luna. "Do you have any idea how ridiculous it is to hide a starship on the bottom of the ocean?" Jim and Bones both stepped out, ignoring what he had to say. Bones went to hug Luna, and once he was done, Jim and Luna quickly gave each other a peck on the lips. "We've been down here since last night! The salt water's gonna ruin the – "

"Scotty!" Jim yelled, silencing him immediately. "Where's Spock?"

"Still in the volcano." Luna responded before grabbing his hand and jogging with him to the bridge.

The volcano began to rumble, the whole planet feeling it, making the group lose their footing a little bit, Luna falling right into Jim. The two looked at each other for a moment, but quickly broke away. Everything between them lately was just so awkward, and they almost didn't want to give each other any physical contact.

The group continued the run, and when they made it onto the bridge, they all went to their usual spots. "Captain on the bridge!" Chekov called out as Luna and Sulu both got to their spots at the con at the same time.

"Lieutenant," Jim called, immediately looking to Uhura. "Do we have an open channel to Mr. Spock?"

When Luna looked back to her friend, she noticed how panicked she looked. "The heat's frying his comms, but we still have contact."

Jim moved to Luna's side of the con, her dodging out of the way a little bit so he would be able to access it more easily, but she hardly ever moved from him like that even on the bridge. He took a deep sigh, deciding it was best to focus on Spock right now, and then move on to fix their relationship. "Spock?"

"I have activated the device, Captain. When the countdown is complete, the reaction should render the volcano inert."

"Yeah," Bones scoffed while stepping forward, becoming worried. "And that's gonna render him inert!"

Jim looked down to his middle seat, trying to meet her eye, but she was trying to find some way to make sure Spock got out of this. "Do we have use of the transporters?"

"Negative, sir." Chekov responded.

Luna sighed while turning to look at him, just giving him a shake of the head. "Not with these magnetic fields."

Scotty was off to the side, jumping at the look of one of the huge sea creatures getting a little too close to the windshield. "I need to beam Spock back to the ship." Luna spotted Scotty off to the side, throwing her hands up at his fear while he just pointed to the windshield, trying to emphasize how big it was again. "Give me one way to do it."

"Maybe if we had a direct line of sight." Chekov answered through a stressed breath. "If we got closer – "

"Hold on, wee man!" Scotty yelled.

"Finally joining in on the conversation." Luna mumbled under her breath.

"You're talking about an active volcano!" Scotty yelled again, deciding to ignore Luna. Just because she was in a bad mood didn't mean that she had to drag everyone down. "Sir, if that thing erupts, I can't guarantee we can withstand the heat!"

Luna turned to Scotty with a sigh, knowing he had a point. "I don't know that we can maintain that kind of altitude." She finished by looking at Jim.

"She's right." Sulu spoke, Jim turning his attention on Sulu after he spoke. "Our shuttle was concealed by the ash cloud, but the Enterprise is too large."

"If utilized in a rescue effort, it would be revealed to the indigenous species." Spock spoke, everyone becoming stressed out even more at the fact that they wouldn't be able to save him.

"Spock, nobody knows the rules better than you," Jim told him, while getting even closer to the con. "But there has got to be an exception."

"None." Luna rolled her eyes at him. "Such action violates the Prime Directive."

"Shut up, Spock!" Luna almost screamed at him. She didn't know what she was more annoyed about. Jim or Spock. "We're trying to save you, damn it!"

"Miss. McCoy," he was practically scolding her at that moment, and she was getting flustered, she was not going to let Spock die here. "But the needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few."

"Spock, we're talking about your life!" Jim yelled at him, Luna looking over her shoulder to stare at Jim from fear. Spock couldn't die here. He just couldn't. Not after everything they had been through.

"The rule cannot be broken...there needs…"

"Spock!" Jim yelled again, but there was no use, the line was disconnected. Jim turned to look at Uhura, knowing she was probably the most panicked. She had to do something to make her not think about it. "Try to get him back on."

"Ninety seconds to detonations." Chekov reported.

Luna turned around to look at Jim, noticing him and Bones standing side by side, simply looking at the windshield with their brains turning. "If Spock were here and I were there, what would he do?"

"He'd let you die." Jim's eyes fell, realizing Bones was probably right, but he had to do something.

Jim's eyes then went to the back of Luna's head, getting an idea. "Luna, get us in the air."

She had to blink a couple of times before turning around to look at her captain. "Uh, what?"

"We're getting Spock out of there. Screw the Prime Directive."

"Spock isn't gonna be happy." She whispered with a sigh before turning around, getting the ship ready to shoot out of the water. "Alright, the water resistance is going to be hell, so everyone brace yourself."

Everyone either sat down or made sure to hold onto something as Luna and Sulu brought the ship out of the water. Everyone who was sitting down was pinned back in their seats, and everyone who was standing was beginning to have a hard time doing that.

When they were finally out of the water, Sulu was able to straighten out the ship while Luna moved to her intercom. "Beam up Commander Spock now."

"Come on." Jim told her while offering her his hand. She took it, letting Jim guide her to the transporter room with Bones following after them. When they finally made it, they each gave him a large smile. He looked safe. "Spock! You all right?"

"Captain," They all waited to see what Spock would have to say. "You let them see our ship."

They each sighed and shook their head at him. "He's fine." Bones spoke while throwing his hand in Spock's direction.

"Bridge to Captain Kirk." They each looked to the nearest speaker, noticing Uhura's voice instantly.

"Yes, Lieutenant?"

"Is Commander Spock on board, sir?" She sounded so scared, Luna knew her best friend, and she knew she was going to be pissed at Spock for this.

"Safely and soundly."

"Please notify him that his device has successfully detonated." And there was her angry voice.

"You hear that? Congratulations, Spock. You just saved the world." Both Jim and Luna offered him a smile, but Spock just continued to stare at them.

"You violated the Prime Directive."

"Oh, come on, Spock. They saw us. Big deal."

Luna sighed while shaking her head, only imagining what the natives were doing down there right now. "Yeah, well something tells me this is going to end up being a big deal." And, she would end up being right.

 ** _I'm back! As you guys probably know from the first story, Into Darkness is my favorite reboot movie, so I'm so happy to be writing it! Sorry if this chapter is a little slow. I thought it would be good to just start it off right in the movie as opposed to my last one. I didn't want to bore you all with the details of what I'm going to be getting into in this story, so they'll slowly reveal themselves throughout the story. I hope you all enjoyed, and I can't wait for you to see how this one is going to turn out! I feel like this one might be better than the first one, but I'm biased to this movie, and we'll see. Remember to read and review, and the review responses will pick up in the next chapter!_**


	2. I Adore You

Sure, Jim and Luna had enough money to get their own place by now, but they liked living with Bones. Luna hadn't known anything else, and Jim wanted her to be comfortable. When they decided to get married, they would move out, but for right now, they liked all living together. The only real change was that they got somewhere bigger, and they all chipped in for rent now.

Jim was holding Luna while they laid in bed. It was one of those early mornings where the two couldn't sleep well, but still wanted to stay in bed a little longer. Jim was rubbing her bare shoulder while looking at her face, her eyes just blinking slow.

Jim knew there was a rift between them right now. She couldn't look at him for too long before turning away. Sex had seemed to become more of a chore than an activity they both enjoyed. Their relationship was suffering right now, and even if he knew they loved each other, and they were destined to be together, this was an alternate timeline. Anything could happen. "Luna," he whispered, scared that she was drifting off to sleep again. She picked her head up to him, meeting his eyes. "Can I ask you a question?"

"What's up?"

Jim opened his mouth, before realizing he had no idea how to phrase this. "Um," Luna leaned forward, waiting for his question, but Jim was just frozen. "I was gonna ask you what you wanted to do for your birthday." Luna sighed, really hoping he was going to ask her about their relationship, and maybe they would be able to fix it. "It's coming up, and I thought maybe you would want to do something special."

She shook her head at him, not really able to come up with anything. "It's just twenty-six. We don't have to do anything special."

"Oh, come on," Jim laughed out while pulling her closer to him. "It's your birthday, and you're the best thing that's ever happened to me."

Luna waited for more, maybe he would say it now. "And?" She prompted.

"And…" This was it. This was the root of all their problems. Neither had said the "L" word. Not since they had gotten back together almost a year ago. Jim saw it as they had their whole lives because he knew what was going to happen. Luna didn't know what to think of it. Jim didn't want to say it first, and Luna didn't want to say it first. It was like they were both battling and holding out to see who would say it first. "You mean the world to me."

Luna was getting so irritated. Why the hell didn't he just say it? They had said it before? Why was he holding out for so long? "And?"

"I…" Jim just couldn't say it. He didn't know why. He loved Luna. He knew he did, but for some reason when it came to actually saying it, he just couldn't. He didn't know if it was because they were both competing or if it was because he was scared of their first go at being a couple, but he knew this was affecting their relationship the hardest. "Adore you."

Luna let out a loud sigh before rolling away from him. "That's not what I'm looking for."

"Oh, come on, Luna."

She rolled back to look at him, becoming flustered. "Why? Why can't you say it?"

"Because…" Jim didn't even know what to say to her. "Girls get scared when you say it."

Her eyes darted back and forth to both of his eyes, not believing that was the excuse he was giving her. "We've said it before!"

"It should come naturally!" Jim argued right back at her. "And it just hasn't come back naturally again yet!"

"We've had plenty of opportunities to say it again."

"Yeah," Jim scoffed, getting mad all over again. "'We'. You could have easily said it too, but you didn't."

"Oh no," Luna spoke while moving to sit up on the bed, getting mad all over again. " _I_ tried to say it when we got back on earth after Nero, but you stopped me, putting the ball back in your court."

"So, what? It's my problem now?" Luna's mouth dropped at that as she forcefully threw the blanket off of her and got out of the bed. "I didn't mean it like that." Jim called after her while throwing the blanket off of him as well. "You know I didn't mean it like that."

The two stood in front of the bed, Jim with his hands on her elbows to stop her from leaving. "Luna," he whispered in that helpless voice Luna couldn't help but pay attention to. She looked up into his eyes, that familiar clash of ocean blue and almond brown happening again. "I've only been in love once before." Luna had to fight a smile because she knew he was talking about her, but honestly that felt like a lifetime ago. "If I say it now, right now, it's forced, and it's not going to be as meaningful as I want it be. This is gonna be the 'I love you' that dictates the rest of our lives, and I want it to be special." Luna had to tear her eyes away from his because she felt like she was going to cry. "Hey," he whispered again, grabbing her chin with thumb and index finger to make their eyes meet again. "But I will say it, and just because I haven't said it, that doesn't mean I don't feel it."

Luna shook her head, finding so many things wrong with that sentence. "You used like three negatives in there and lost me."

Jim smiled, knowing they weren't at the best place they could be, but they were just a little better. He gave her a strong kiss, and the two ended up falling back into the bed, Jim climbing on top of her. Luna began to laugh feeling like this would end up being the best sex they had in a long time. That was until both of their phones rang at the same time.

They both shared an annoyed look, knowing it could be a number of things, but if both of their phones went off at the same time, it was most likely work. With a sigh, they both broke away, going to their separate nightstands. It was a message from Pike. He wanted to see both of them in a few hours. Both of them as well as Spock. They both turned to each other, eyebrows furrowed, not sure what this meant.

* * *

The three were dressed in their "land" uniforms as everyone usually referred to them, just outside of Starfleet HQ, walking with Jim in the middle, Spock on his left, and Luna on his right. "I'm telling you guys, this is why he called. I can feel it." Luna didn't think that's what was happening. Luna felt like something was wrong, and maybe someone let it slip that they didn't stay with the Prime Directive, but who knew? Jim could be right.

"Your feeling aside," Spock began, making Luna roll her eyes, she still wasn't happy with him wanting the crew to just leave him in the volcano, and she knew Uhura was furious about it. She talked with her on the phone about it for hours. "I consider it highly unlikely that we will be selected for the new program."

"Why else would Pike want to see us?" Luna turned to look at Jim with a slight smile on her face. She loved Jim's optimism, but sometimes, she felt like he was just setting himself up to get hurt. How many times did she have to take care of him because his optimism got too strong? "Forget about seniority. They gave us the newest ship in the fleet. I mean, who else are they gonna send out?"

"I can think of numerous possibilities." Spock told him.

Luna sighed. And Jim and Spock were just at opposite ends of the extreme. Jim was too excited and Spock was too...under excited. "Jim, just try to go in there with an open mind. You don't know what this meeting is going to entail."

He hurried in front of them, beginning to walk backwards with a large smile on his face. "A five-year mission, guys!" Luna had to smile at him, but she didn't want to get his hopes up. "That's deep space! That's uncharted territory! Think how incredible that's gonna be." That's when Jim noticed two women coming out of headquarters. "Hey ladies." Luna's eyes immediately grew wide as he used his flirty smile on them. "Jim Kirk."

Luna moved forward, hitting his shoulder as hard as she possibly could, making Jim curse in pain. "Are you out of your goddamn mind? I'll cut you."

"It was a joke." He whined out while holding onto his shoulder. "I'm trying to loosen you up."

Luna gave him a deep glare, but Jim just continued to smile at her. "I could think of other ways to loosen me up that doesn't involve flirting with everything that has a pulse."

When they got to the doors, Jim let Spock go in first, but waited for Luna, giving her a quick kiss before letting her walk in. "Kiss ass." She mumbled just loud enough for him to hear while he walked in after her.

The three made it up to Pike's office, and there was no wait, they went right in which was weird because usually Pike's schedule was always packed, and usually meetings were always overrunning the other. The three were standing in front of his desk while he was going over their reports for their most recent mission. That's when Luna felt the knots in her stomach.

"'Uneventful.'"

Jim and Luna shared a quick, confused glance before looking back to Pike. "Admiral?" Jim asked for clarification.

"It's the way you described the survey of Nibiru in your captain's log."

"Yes, sir," Jim told him with a respectful nod, but this didn't help Luna's worries. "I didn't want to waste your time going over the details."

"Tell me more about this volcano." He barely let Jim finish his sentence, and Luna knew the man well enough to know when he was pissed. That's when he set his eyes on Luna. "Ms. McCoy, you went over the data yourself, didn't you?"

Luna gulped before answering, "Yes, sir."

"Yes," he spoke while looking through the files again. "Your data says it was highly volatile. If it were to erupt, it would wipe out the planet."

"Let's hope it doesn't, sir." Jim jumped in, wanting to defend Luna, but she was afraid he was going to make it worse.

"Something tells me it won't."

"Well, sir," Jim jumped in again. "Volatile is all relative. Maybe Ms. McCoy's data was off."

Pike then looked back to Luna. "Really Mr. Kirk?" Jim simply nodded. "Because I remember you recommending her research specifically for the Enterprise's next mission." Jim opened his mouth to protest, but Pike began talking again instead. "Or maybe it didn't erupt because Mr. Spock detonated a cold fusion device inside it right after a civilization that's _barely_ invented the wheel happened to see a _starship_ rising out of their ocean!" He turned to look at Spock after, Luna dropping her jaw, realizing the one who let it slip was him. "That is pretty much how you describe it, is it not?"

"Admiral – "

Luna's head immediately turned to Spock with anger on her face. "You _filed_ a _report_?"

"Why didn't you tell me?" Jim immediately asked right after her.

"I incorrectly assumed that you would be truthful in your captain's log."

Luna let out a long, angry sigh, only imagining what was going to happen to the three of them now. "Yeah," Jim scoffed, becoming just as frustrated as Luna now. "I would have been if I didn't have to save your life."

"A fact for which I am _immeasurably_ grateful and the very reason I felt it necessary to take responsibility for the actions – "

"Take responsibility, yeah." Luna scoffed at him, turning so she would be able to face him instead of Pike. "That'd be so noble, _Pointy_ , if you weren't also throwing us under the bus."

"Admiral Pike," Jim spoke up, turning to look at him again, despite all of their arguing. "Lieutenant Commander McCoy was just following my instructions. She did nothing wrong."

"'Pointy'?" Spock quoted back form what Luna had said. "Is that a derogatory reference to – "

"Officers." Pike spoke, making them all go quiet, and stand at attention in front of him again while he got up from his chair. "Starfleet's mandate is to explore and observe, not to interfere."

"Had the mission gone according to plan, Admiral…"

"You idiot," Luna mumbled under her breath. "You're only going to make it worse."

"the indigenous species would never have been aware of our interference." Spock continued talking right over her, something he had gotten very good at since meeting both her and Jim.

"That's a technicality." Pike spat it out at Luna the most which she slightly rolled her eyes to.

Pike looked like he was about to snap on her if Spock wouldn't have spoke again. "I am Vulcan, sir. We embrace technicality."

"Are you giving me attitude, Spock?"

"I'm expressing multiple attitudes simultaneously, sir. To which are you referring?"

"Oh my god." Both Jim and Luna sighed out at the same time.

"Out." Pike commanded, his eyes going over to Luna as well. "You're dismissed, Commander; and Lieutenant Commander, we _will_ have words later."

Jim gave her a panicked stare, trying to tell her that he would try to work on her punishment with the Admiral. Spock walked out first, and Luna followed, nearly slamming the door after them. Pike began to grind his teeth at that action, knowing no amount of trouble she was in would stop that annoyed attitude. He almost forgot how southern she was. "Admiral, again, Lieutenant Commander McCoy was just following my instructions, she had nothing to do with this."

Pike said nothing, he just went to look out the window of his office, and Jim didn't know if that was a good thing or a bad thing regarding Luna's case. "You have any idea what a pain in the ass you are?"

Jim sighed before nodding. "I think so, sir."

"So, tell me what you did wrong." His voice was even harsher than before. "What's the lesson to be learned here?"

Jim paused for a moment, only thinking of one thing he learned. "Never trust a Vulcan."

"Now, see, you _can't_ even answer the question." He turned his head to Jim, his eyes shooting him daggers. "You lied. On an official report, you lied. You think the rules don't apply to you because you _disagree_ with them."

"That's why you talked me into signing up in the first place." Jim brought up to him calmly. "It's why you gave me your ship."

"I gave you my ship because I saw a greatness in you." His voice shifted from angry to somewhat sad. "And now, I see you haven't got an ounce of humility."

Jim slowly turned to look at him, wanting to meet his eyes for this. "What was I supposed to do, let Spock die?"

"You're missing the point."

"I don't think I am, sir." Jim argued right back. "What would you have done?"

"I wouldn't have risked my First Officer's life in the first place!" Jim let out a long, loud sigh, his eyes darting away from Pike's, not finding anything wrong with what he did despite Pike's words. "You were supposed to survey a planet, not alter its destiny! You violated a dozen Starfleet regulations and almost got everyone under your command, including your girlfriend I might add, killed."

The fact that he brought Luna into this made Jim even angrier. "Except I didn't!" He finally exploded in an Admiral's face. "You know how many crew members I've lost? Not one!"

"That's your problem, you think you're infallible!"

"Not one!" Jim continued despite Pike cutting him off.

"You think you can't make a mistake." Jim looked away from him again, shaking his head at what he was saying to him. "It's a pattern with you! The rules are for other people!"

"Some should be." He told him with a shrug, but that was just making Pike even more angry.

"And what's worse is you using blind luck to justify you playing God!" The two simply stared at each other for a moment, giving each other the chance to calm down. "Given the circumstances, this has been brought to Admiral Marcus's attention. He convened a special tribunal, to which I was not invited. You understand what Starfleet regulations mandate be done at this point?" Jim's eyes darted back and forth at Pike's, becoming scared for what was going to happen to him. "They've taken the Enterprise away from you." Jim's face fell, that revelation nearly stunning him. He couldn't do anything in the moment but stare at Pike. "They're sending you back to the Academy."

Jim felt like the rug had just been ripped out from under him, and he didn't know what to do about any of it. "Admiral, listen – "

"No, I'm not going to listen." What scared Jim the most was how calmly he spoke back to him. "Why should I listen?"

"I can justify – "

"I'm not going to listen." The two then began talking over each other, trying to get their points across.

"I understand regulation – "

"You don't listen to anybody but yourself!"

"but every decision I've made – "

"No! I can't listen!" Jim immediately got quiet, feeling like his whole world was crashing down. "They're not holding your Second Officer responsible for flying the ship out of concealment, so Ms. McCoy is safe." Jim let out a little sigh, relieved, but then he realized they wouldn't be on the same ship anymore. Hell, they wouldn't be in the same atmospheres. "But you, don't comply with the rules, you don't take responsibility for anything, and you don't respect the chair. You know why?" Jim looked back up into his eyes, terrified for what he was going to say next. "Because you're not ready for it." Jim couldn't even look him in the eye after that. He just walked out, fighting back tears at the thought of not only losing his position, but also his crew.

* * *

Spock hurried after Luna while she just stormed ahead. "Luna!" He tried to call after her, but she just kept walking out the door of headquarters. "Luna! I am not able to run as fast as you in these – "

"Spock!" She screamed at him, turning around so she could look him in the eye. Spock stopped walking, finding himself also stepping back a bit from fear at her raising her voice at him. "Do you even realize what you did back there?!" Spock opened his mouth to answer her, but she just started talking again. "No, you don't because all you run on is logic, and give no thought to emotion or problem solving!"

"I promise you, Ms. McCoy, that was not my – "

"You probably just cost Jim his job!"

Spock stood there, looking at one of his best friends, not sure what to say. She was just so mad at him. He could see the fire in her eyes. It was almost like when he sent Jim off of the Enterprise. That same anger was in her eyes. "God, Spock," She sighed out, Spock looking all over her face, realizing he had really betrayed her. "Do you ever think these things through?"

Spock opened up his mouth, not even really sure how he was going to attempt an apology, when Jim stormed out of the building. "Jim." Luna called out desperately.

He didn't even look at Spock. He just grabbed Luna's arm and began to pull her away from him. "We have to go."

"Jim!" Spock called after him, knowing he had to mend this situation, but he didn't know how. It didn't matter if he even knew because Jim wasn't going to turn around to talk to him.

"Jim," Luna began, trying to look at his face, but his jaw was just rigid as they walked. "What happened?"

"I'll tell you when we get to the car." Luna immediately closed her mouth, but she didn't stop looking at him.

When they got to the car, Luna got in the driver's seat, knowing Jim probably didn't want to drive right now, and she was right. Once the doors closed, they spent some time in the silence. Luna wasn't going to force him to talk about it until he was ready, but she really wanted to know. "They took the Enterprise from me."

Luna turned to look at him, her mouth dropped and her eyes wide. "What?!"

"And they're sending me back to the Academy."

Luna looked away from him for a moment to process before looking back to him, and she could see the tears begin to pool in his eyes. "They can't do that."

"Well, they did." Jim said it with no emotion, and that was so unlike him. He was an emotional person, and he expressed all of them as often as he could. She had rarely seen him like this. He finally turned to look at her, a fresh tear falling down his face. "What am I gonna do?" Luna opened her mouth, wanting to reassure him, but he began talking again. "While you're in space performing your dream job, I'm gonna be down here going through the Academy again."

Luna felt like she was going to cry looking at him. This wasn't fair. Jim had sacrificed so much for Starfleet, and now from one mistake, he wasn't going to be able to do what he was good at. Luna leaned forward, wanting to comfort him. "Jim."

He leaned back into the seat, taking a deep sigh as another tear fell down his cheek. "I just want to go home."

Luna looked at him for a moment, wishing there was something she could do, but she was completely outranked. "Hey," Jim turned to look at her, the sadness still in his eyes. Maybe they could make this whole "I love you" waiting a joke. "I adore you."

Despite Jim's tears, a big smile grew on his face. He leaned forward and kissed her gently, Luna tasting the tears on his lips, but none of that mattered to her. She wanted to focus on making Jim forget about this shitty day, and hopefully making him feel better. When he pulled away, he stared in her eyes for a moment while rubbing her chin softly. "Thanks."

She gave him a tiny peck before slowly turning to the front of the car, taking a deep breath before starting it up, and taking them both home to process this more.

 _ **MisfitCarter: I've been good, and that's so sweet that you worried about me. This semester just kicked my ass, and I had to learn roads of a new town. It was bad. I got lost coming back from the mall the other day too. And no, I will not make you wait months this time. Thank you so much, love! (PS: I'm about to answer your PM, I just wanted to get the chapter up first)**_

 _ **rebootfan: Oh no! I hope I can make you fall in love again even if nothing really special happened in this chapter. Thank you, love! It's good to be back, and I'm happy to be talking to you again :)**_

 _ **Love. Fiction. 2017: Yay! I hope you liked this chapter!**_

 ** _Hey, guys, just wanted to let you know if you also read my MCU fanfics then there's a poll on my profile to vote on regarding that series. If you could give a vote, that would be awesome. I know it's Christmas Eve, but I wanted to give you guys this chapter as a Christmas present since you guys came back after me being MIA for a while. Thank you all so much for being the awesome readers you are! I hope you all have a wonderful holiday no matter what you celebrate! Remember to review!_**


	3. Something Bad

Luna waited as the bartender poured new drinks, and carefully began to walk them back to her table with Jim. She handed Jim his whiskey, him giving her a soft smile, obviously still distraught from earlier today. They both received many calls from Spock, but each of them ignored it. "Thanks, baby." Jim mumbled as she sat down across from him and the bar.

She looked at Jim as he took the first sip, shaking her head, still furious at this whole situation. "Screw Pike and Marcus." Jim looked up at that with his brow furrowed, not sure where that had come from. "If they don't want to have someone who is amazing at their job, captain the best ship in their fleet, then that's their loss."

Jim let out a sigh, knowing she was only trying to make him feel better, but she was kind of making it worse. "Yeah." Jim mumbled while rubbing his finger on the rim of the glass in thought.

"And who's gonna captain the ship now? Spock?" Jim let a shudder at that thought. "Pike?" Jim sighed again, but that's when he noticed Pike approaching their table. "Last time he had it, he was taken as prisoner."

"Luna," Jim spoke in a warning tone. Pike was definitely in ear shot now.

"I guess that means he sucks as an admiral though because if he ends captaining the Enterprise now, that means he was demoted."

"Luna," Jim spoke, more concretely this time, Pike standing directly behind her.

"I'm just saying that everyone's going to hate being assigned to the Enterprise with a captain like Pike."

"Really, Lieutenant Commander?"

Luna and Jim stared at each other for a moment, Luna taking a deep sigh before taking a large gulp of her drink. When she turned around to face him, she gave him a big, fake smile. " _Admiral_ Pike," Jim looked at the back of her head, shaking his own, knowing she was going to dig herself into a deeper hole than he was in. "How are you doing since you ruined our lives?"

"Luna," Jim spoke her name in a hushed whisper, worried for what she was doing to herself.

Pike just continued to stare at Luna with a big smile. He should have been annoyed and angry with her, but he had always found her spunk admirable and entertaining. "Ms. McCoy, can I get a moment with your boyfriend?"

Luna kept her stare with Pike before finishing her drink, and standing up to go to the bar to give them their alone time. Jim shook his head at her as she walked by him, but she was still staring at Pike. Jim sighed while taking a gulp of his drink as Pike sat down in Luna's chair. "I'm sorry my girlfriend has the behavior of a wild animal, and...a southerner."

Pike chuckled while looking over at Luna standing by the bar. "That's why I hired her." Jim turned his head to look at her as well. Sure, Luna was annoying as hell sometimes, but he really did love her. "She just loves you, and is trying to protect you." Jim turned back to look at Pike with his eyebrows furrowed, wondering how he knew that. "I'm sure you know that, though."

"We," Jim began slowly, not sure why he felt the need to correct him. "Haven't said the 'L' word quite yet."

Pike blinked a couple of times at that. He knew they said it before all this mess with the baby. "Haven't you two been back together for like a year?"

"It's a personal choice." Jim defended quickly, knowing it was actually none of Pike's business what was going on between him and his girlfriend. "How did you know we'd be here?"

"I know you both better than you think I do." Luna looked back over to the table like a protective bear, making sure nothing was going wrong and she took a sip from her new drink. "The first time I found you was in a dive like this." Jim took a sigh, looking down into his drink, remembering that was also the night he had met Luna. A little smile came on his face at that thought. He remembered that she could deliver a punch. "Remember that? You got your ass handed to you."

That made Jim look up at Pike, offended at what he had just said. "No, I didn't."

"You don't?" With how drunk Jim was that night, he wouldn't be surprised if he didn't remember.

"No," Jim clarified. "That's not what happened."

"That was an epic beating."

Luna came back to the table with the drink in her hand, only catching part of the conversation. "Are you talking about the night we met because it really was an epic beating."

Jim turned to look up at her, shaking his head while throwing one of his hands in the air. "Can you…I thought you were letting us talk in private." Luna rolled her eyes as Jim turned back to look at Pike. "No, it wasn't."

Luna let out a sigh before mumbling under her breath, "You are such a fucking girl sometimes." Jim looked even more annoyed with her as she walked back to the bar, taking a large gulp of her drink.

"You had napkins," Pike spoke again, getting back on topic with the conversation, a small smile on his lips. "Hanging out of your nose." The two began to laugh, Jim shrugging because he did have a point. "Did you not?"

"Yeah," Jim sighed out, almost as if he was reminiscing back to that night. Sure, he got into a fight, but he also met the love of his life that night. "That was a good fight."

"'A good fight.'" Pike quoted with the shake of the head. "I think that's your problem right there." Jim looked up at him, knowing he probably had a point there. "They gave her back to me." When he said that, Jim felt like he was being stabbed in the back. He didn't need any clarification, but for some reason, Pike felt like he needed to give one. "The Enterprise."

Jim looked at him for a long moment before looking back down at his drink, continuing to play with the rim of the glass again. "Congratulations." Jim's fingers slid down the side of the glass, gripping it, knowing he was going to need a long drink after that news. "Watch your back with that First Officer, though."

"Spock's not going to be working with me. He's been transferred." Jim let the liquid sit in his mouth for a moment at that news. Sure, he was angry with Spock, but he never wanted him to be taken off the Enterprise. "U.S.S. Bradbury. You're going to be my First Officer." Jim quickly looked up at him, and then turned around to look Luna. She was rubbing her bare legs together as they crossed in her bar stool, the sleek black dress showing a fair amount of them. He looked to her face, her red lips pressed against the glass, her eyes shifting around the room as she took a swig of the alcohol. He was going to be with her again. They were going to be working on the same ship again. He couldn't fight this small smile that came to his lips. "Yeah, Marcus took some convincing." Jim turned back to look at Pike, taking a swig of his drink to hide his smile. "But every now and then I can make a good case."

"What did you tell him?" Jim's voice was so soft, almost like he was a small child.

"The truth. That I believe in you." Jim really couldn't hide his small smile that time. "That if anybody deserves a second chance, it's Jim Kirk."

Jim didn't know how to thank Pike, knowing that probably took a lot more convincing than he would like to admit. "I don't know what to say."

"That is a first." Pike scoffed, making Jim smile. "It's going to be okay, son." Jim just felt so relieved at those words. When he heard them, he believed them. Pike's communicator went off just as Luna began to make her way back to the table. He pulled it out while Luna placed another drink down for Jim. "'Emergency session, Daystrom.'" Luna stopped whatever sarcastic remark she was about to make, panicked at those words. What the hell had happened? "That's us."

"Yeah." Jim almost whispered, the thought of being First Officer really sinking in for him. He never really got to be one. Maybe he would like it. And he would be working awfully close with Luna.

"What?" Luna whispered from confusion, Jim remembering she had no idea about his promotion.

"Suit up."

Pike got out of seat, and walked out, Jim getting out of his seat as well, but Luna just continued to stand there, still not understanding. "What the hell is going on?"

Jim threw money on the table for the drinks, grabbed her hand, and began to pull her towards the exit. "I'll explain along the way."

* * *

Jim was in his dress suit while Luna looped her arm through his right arm, still in her black dress. They walked in together, exchanging brief nods with people they knew until Spock walked into the headquarters building from the right. "Captain."

They both turned to Spock, Luna giving him a large and obvious eye roll at his presence. Jim pulled Luna forward, not wanting her to go off on someone else again. As they moved to the elevator, though, Spock followed them. "Not anymore, Spock. First Officer." Jim spoke, deciding to finally address him. Spock walked into the elevator with them, his face still dumbfounded. "I was demoted, and you were reassigned." Both Jim and Luna gave him a nasty smile before looking straight forward again.

Spock was silent for a moment before finally speaking up. "It is fortunate that the consequences were not more severe."

Luna scoffed, wishing she could go back to when she slapped him on the bridge. "You've got to be kidding me." Jim mumbled under his breath, now understanding why Luna was so upset with him outside of headquarters earlier today.

"Captain, it was never my intention – "

"Not Captain." Luna reminded Spock with a nasty smile.

Jim pat her hand, trying to tell her that he was able to take care of it himself, but he would be dumb to think Luna would be quiet about it. "I saved your life, Spock. You wrote a report, I lost my ship."

The doors opened shortly after, Jim guiding Luna out, and the two standing in front of the elevator while Spock continued to stand there with a worried expression on his face. "You want to wait out here for me? Then we'll get back to our date."

Luna took a deep sigh before looking back into Jim's eyes. "I don't understand why I can't be in there. This affects me too."

Jim opened his mouth to tell her something more comforting when Spock hurried out of the elevator after them. "Commander, I see now I should have alerted you to the fact that I submitted the report."

"No," Jim spoke, turning to Spock to shake his head at him. "I'm familiar with your compulsion to follow the rules. But you see, I can't do that." Luna was standing next to the two, looking back and forth at their faces as they spoke, wondering how this was going to end. "Where I come from, if someone saves your life, you don't stab him in the back."

"Vulcans cannot lie."

"Then we're talking to the half-human part of you." Luna brought up while throwing her hands in the air. Jim turned to look at her, giving her a disapproving glance for interjecting. "What?" She scoffed. "He ruined my life with this demotion and reassignment too."

"All right." Jim breathed, slowly looking back to Spock. "Do you understand why I went back for you?"

A man approached them, coming out of the elevator, each of them taking a few steps back to distance themselves from this conversation. "Commander Spock? Frank Abbot, U.S.S. Bradbury. Guess you're with me."

Spock looked back to Luna and Jim, getting suddenly sad at the fact that he wasn't going to be on the same ship as them anymore. He then turned back to his new captain, knowing he had to uphold his duty as a member of Starfleet. "Yes, Captain."

The man looked back and forth at them again, obviously feeling like he interrupted something before walking away. Jim and Luna looked back to him, Luna crossing her arms while giving Spock that usual disapproving glance, but Jim had more of a sad look. "The truth is," Jim sighed out. "I'm going to miss you."

Spock opened his mouth, about to say something, and Jim looked at him expectantly, wanting some kind of emotional confession from him. Then Spock closed his mouth. Jim scoffed loudly while Luna shook her head at him. "Green blooded hobgoblin." Luna whispered before pulling Jim away from him so they could speak privately.

Once Luna was sure they were alone, she started looking at his feet, and ended by slowly following his body up to his eyes. She got worried as she looked at him, worried for what was next for not just their crew, but for Starfleet. "Look," Luna breathed out, still staring into his eyes. "Everyone's talking about what happened in London, but I don't think this is over." Jim turned his head at that, Luna sighing before crossing her arms. "You think he was just going to blow up something everyone can access and be done?" Jim let that roll around in his head. He remembered hearing the news on the drive to Headquarters, and she was right. It didn't necessarily make sense. "Something's going to happen, and it's going to affect all of us at Starfleet. So, just remember, no matter what happens in there, this is affecting _all_ of us."

"I promise." He whispered to her before leaning forward and giving her a hard kiss. Luna gripped onto his hair as hard as she could, having a bad feeling in the bottom of her stomach. She couldn't explain it, but she felt like something bad was going to happen. Ever since the story broke of the bombs at in London. She had this terrifying feeling that the base in San Francisco would be bombed too. Although, she could chalk that up to nerves. When they pulled away, Luna gave him a tight smile, not wanting to show him how nervous she actually was, but Jim could read her like a book. "Just stay here, and I'll be back before you know it."

She gave him a soft smile before Jim leaned in to kiss her on the head. "Be careful." Luna whispered to him as he began to walk off. Jim just turned around so he could walk backwards, giving her a little wink that she rolled her eyes to.

* * *

All the captains and first officers stood at attention around a circular table with Admiral Marcus at the head of it. "Thank you for convening on such notice. Be seated." They all sat down as one, not one person out of place. "By now, some of you have heard what happened in London. The target was a Starfleet data archive. Now it's a damned hole in the ground, forty-two men and women are dead." Jim and Spock looked to each other from across the room, both having thinking faces on. None of this really made sense. "One hour ago, I received a message from a Starfleet officer, who confessed to carrying out this attack, that he was being forced to do it by this man, Commander John Harrison." The man's picture flashed across each of their screens, but no one recognized him.

"He's one of our own." Admiral Marcus continued. "And he is the man responsible for this act of savagery. For reasons unknown, John Harrison has just declared a one-man war against Starfleet. And under no circumstances are we to allow this man to escape Federation space. You here tonight represent the senior command of all the vessels in the region. And in the name of those we lost, you will run this bastard down. This is a manhunt, pure and simple, so let's get to work."

Jim then noticed something on the screen of the satellite view of the attack. As Admiral Marcus continued to talk, Jim zoomed in on it. John Harrison was carrying a black duffle bag. He thought back to what Luna said before he left to the meeting. This would affect all of them. Jim just didn't understand. If he wanted to hit Starfleet, he would have hit something more important to them than this. He would make them hurt. He looked back to the door of the room, really wishing second officers were invited as well so Luna would be able to express her worries personally. She knew a lot more than him, and he could tell by the look on her face that she felt like something else was going to go down.

Jim turned to look at Pike, knowing he had to say something about this. Nothing was adding up. "What's in the bag?"

"James, not now." Pike whispered back to him in a warning tone.

"It doesn't seem odd to you that he'd target an archive? It's like bombing a library."

"Chris?" Pike let out a large sigh, really wishing Jim knew better than to interrupt a huge meeting like this. "Everything okay there?"

"Yes, sir." He looked straight to Admiral Marcus, not looking to Jim at all as he spoke about him. "Mr. Kirk is just acclimating to his new position as First Officer."

"You got something to say, Kirk, say it. Tomorrow's too late."

All eyes turned to Jim after that, him becoming nervous at the thought of telling everyone what he and Luna had discussed beforehand since he probably shouldn't have discussed this with her. "I'm fine, sir. My apologies."

That just made Admiral Marcus more annoyed. "Spit it out, son. Don't be shy."

Jim collected his thoughts for a moment before finally speaking. "Why the archive? All that information is public record. If he really wanted to damage Starfleet, this could just be the beginning."

Now Jim had the Admiral's attention. "The beginning of what, Mr. Kirk?"

"Luna McCoy and I were talking, the Second Officer of the Enterprise – "

Pike shut his eyes and sighed, knowing Admiral Marcus wasn't going to like that. "You discussed this information with your girlfriend?"

"And she actually put this theory in my head." Admiral Marcus took a deep sigh, not liking that he discussed this with someone who wasn't in the room, but maybe she had a point. "Sir, in the event of an attack, protocol mandates that senior command gather captains and first officers at Starfleet H.Q., right here," That's when something occurred to Jim. If Harrison really wanted to hurt Starfleet, he would hurt them right here and right now. "…in this room."

"It is curious Harrison would commandeer a jumpship without warp capabilities – " Spock trailed off, everyone noticing the bright red light coming from the large windows. Everyone slowly stood up, realizing that this was a ship, and that Jim and Luna's theory was right.

Jim turned around to the table with a panicked look on his face. "Clear the room!" He screamed before the guns went off and began to attack the Starfleet captains and first officers. Jim fell to the ground, looking around as his colleagues were shot.

Luna ran into the conference room after security, barely dodging a blast. Luna hit the ground, sliding to one of the guns discarded by one of the dead security guards. That's when Jim saw her. "Luna!"

She picked her head up to his voice, but that's when blasts started to go off near him. She ran to him as he dodged the blasts, pulling him behind one of the only walls. As they stood there with their only blockage, they looked at each other's faces for a moment. "You were right!" Jim yelled over the loud screams and destruction.

"Of course, I was!" She yelled back.

One of the guns skidded toward them like a cue. The two of them looked to each other before Jim leaned down and picked up the gun. "I'll cover you." Luna told him.

Jim nodded, the two taking a deep breath before running out together. Jim began shooting the ship itself while Luna began trying to take out the weapons on it. She had taken out the gun on the right, but from that, the left gun seemed to shoot off stronger and faster blasts.

As Jim continued to shoot, he realized something. The engine. If he shot out the engine, the entire ship would be taken down. "Come with me!" Jim yelled to Luna, not really giving her a choice as he dropped his gun and grabbed her arm.

"What the hell are you doing?!" She screamed to him as he dragged her back to the wall.

Jim simply banged on it, opening up the safety station. In there, there was a long, flat water hose. Jim pulled it out as much as he could before running back, Luna finally understanding what he was doing. "Jim!" She yelled to him.

Jim turned around, ready for what she had to say, but instead, she threw him her blaster. Jim gave her a quick smile before getting back to work. Jim quickly tied the hose around the blaster before chucking it into the ship's engine. The two waited until the safety station began to come out of the wall.

Luna gave Jim a panicked look before knocking him down. But she knocked him down with too much force, Jim ending up rolling on top of her and towards the shot out window. "Jim!" Luna screamed as she caught the front of his uniform while he began to roll out. Jim could feel the air under him as his breath increased. With all of Luna's might and a loud grunt, she pulled him back into the building as Jim laid on top of her again.

He laid on top of her in a push up position, trying to regain his breath back when the safety station broke off. He fell on Luna hard, shielding her completely with his body as it flew right over their heads.

Once they were sure it had passed, they both sat up, watching as the engine engulfed the safety station, leading to a loud explosion they could feel the heat from. Jim slowly got up first as the ship began to lose control, helping Luna up as well. When they were both up, he put a protective arm around Luna's shoulders, Harrison making direct eye contact with them as he warped out of the ship. "How the hell did he manage that?" Luna whispered.

Before Jim could answer her, the ship slammed into the building adjacent to them before falling to the courtyard. Luna placed a hand on Jim's chest at the sound of the crash before the two looked to each other. Jim wanted to ask her about what the hell that was, but her safety was way more important to him. "Are you all right?" He whispered pulling away from her to check her body.

"Are _you_ all right?" She asked, looking down at him in the same way. "You nearly fell out of the building." Jim opened his mouth to answer her, but something felt awfully wrong. He looked around the area, confusing Luna. "Jim?"

There were two people he couldn't see that were some of the most important people to him in this room. "Where's Spock and Pike?"

Luna began to look around too, panic settling in her stomach. "Spock?!" She yelled out. She began to feel terrified that she couldn't see him.

Jim and Luna began to run, looking under every nook and cranny to find them both. Jim ran into the hallway, hoping that they were smart enough to get away when he saw something else as he got closer. Luna ran in after him, and the first thing she saw was the blood. She placed a hand to her mouth, focusing on Pike's chest, but it was unmoving.

Jim fell in front of him, and all Spock and Luna could do was watch him. Jim looked to Spock, panicked before leaning forward and checking his pulse. Luna moved forward, not sure if she should tell him what she already knew. That's when she heard Jim's first cry as he fell into Admiral Pike's chest. Luna didn't know what to do as Jim held onto Pike's lifeless body. He had been like a father to Jim, and now he was gone. Jim had no father figure left.

He picked his head up off of Pike, Luna going forward and holding his shoulders as he continued to cry. When Jim finally decided to stand up, Luna took her hands off of him, and watched his back. Jim sadly put his hand on Spock's shoulder before turning around to Luna.

Luna looked up at his face, noticing a few silent tears still falling down his face. He looked down at her, trying to hold it together, but there was something on Luna's face letting him know there was no way he could conceal his feelings from her. He pulled her in by the head, and held her as tight as he could. Luna shut her eyes, finding a few tears escape her eyes as well. Pike had been such a huge part of their life. It was fair to say that he was a huge motivator for their relationship. Seeing him gone was so…foreign.

As Jim hugged Luna, he began to feel a rage build up in him. He hugged her a little tighter, deciding John Harrison wasn't going to take anything else from him that he loved. Especially Luna.

 _ **MisfitCarter: Girl, same! Spock made me so mad, I love him, but damn. And, you should have the tissues ready because I've wrote a scene that belongs in this story when I was writing the first Made of Stars and I cried like a baby. I go back and edit sometimes and cry. But I hope you liked this chapter, and you'll probably be able to see the tears coming lol.**_

 _ **Rebootfan: Aw, I hope you had a wonderful holiday, love! I'm happy I'm helping you fall back in love with Star Trek fanfics. That makes me so happy! And I'm with you on that, I love the 2009 reboot and Into Darkness, but Beyond pissed me the hell off. I've been thinking of something like that, and perhaps an engagement making him rethink everything. And oh my god, when he sends Scotty off, I can't. You're gonna be seeing a pissed off Luna when he sends her best friend off the ship. And when you said Spock's mom, did you mean either Pike or Jim? Because Spock's mom dies in the 2009 reboot. Oh god, I know, I will forever love Bones. Unfortunately, he's not in this chapter, but he will be in the next chapter, and he's gonna have a cute moment with Luna. I hope you liked this chapter, love!**_

 _ **Love. Fiction. 2017: I'm glad you like it, love!**_

 _ **Ziggy55: Glad to see you back! It's okay it took you a while! It was in the middle of the holidays! I'm glad you loved, "I adore you", McKirk2 is too damn cute sometimes. I hope you had a wonderful Christmas as well, love, and I hope you have an awesome new year!**_

 _ **HAPPY NEW YEARS EVE! So we can expect a new chapter about a week or shorter after last update, just wanted to let you guys know. And I know no Bones in this one, but he will be in the next chapter, and he will have a cute moment with Luna since we don't see much of him in this movie. I hope you all liked this one! Remember to review, and I hope you all have a wonderful and safe new year!**_


	4. Good Mourning

Multiple ambulances sat outside of Starfleet Headquarters, all the paramedics either checking the surviving victims or packing body bags. Luna sat in the back of the ambulance, watching the body bags roll out, knowing any one of them could have been Pike.

She took a deep gulp, thinking back on her last conversation with him. He wondered if he knew how thankful she was to him. Instead of spending their last moments together telling him that, she was just acting like a brat. He had given her a dream career. If it wasn't for him captaining the Enterprise last year, her and Jim might have not happened a second time. If it wasn't for him, Luna and Jim wouldn't have even happened the first time. He was Jim's sole reason for joining, and if it wasn't for that, their relationship wouldn't have blossomed into what it is now.

She looked over to Jim who was sitting in an ambulance diagonal from her. He had been so quiet since the attack, but she couldn't blame him. Not with the way they lost someone major in their lives.

Jim had looked up at her after a few moments of her staring. As he looked at her, he thought back to his anger with John Harrison. Anything could have happened in that conference room. Luna, Spock, or himself could have died. He took a deep gulp while staring at her, promising he wasn't going to let her be in any danger like that again.

"Luna!" They both turned away from each other to see a few members of the Enterprise trying to push their way past the police. "For the last damn time," and that was Bones. "I don't care about protocol; my daughter was in there, and I need to know if she's okay!"

Luna got off of the ambulance, immediately trying to be stopped by a paramedic. "Dad!" She screamed out.

Jim got off of his ambulance as well, immediately being stopped. "Bones!" Jim yelled out.

Bones finally got tired of being stopped, deciding to punch one of the police officers before making a run towards Luna's ambulance. Luna wiggled her way out of the medic's grip just in time to jump into her father's arms. The medics and police officers didn't want to push any further, knowing a father almost lost his daughter. There was no way they were going to get in the middle of their reunion.

Bones had never hugged his daughter tighter than in that moment. He never wanted to let go. As he thought about his ride to Headquarters, he was shaking from fear that something had happened to Jim and Luna. Now, as he held his daughter, it almost felt unreal.

Bones pulled away from her, placing his hands on her cheeks as he looked her over. "Are you okay?"

"Dad," Luna sighed out, finding tears beginning to brim her eyes. This was the first time she was able to cry about what had happened. "Pike is dead."

He pulled her back into another hug, pulling her into his chest by her head while her arms wrapped his inner shoulder blades. All Luna could do was cry into his chest, and all Bones could do was hold her. Jim watched, still standing up from the ambulance. Jim knew this was the only way she was going to actually express her emotions. If she had her father comforting her. Jim gulped, feeling semi responsible. If things would have gone to plan on Nibiru, Pike wouldn't be dead. Sure, this all would have happened, but they probably wouldn't have lost Pike. There was no way Jim was letting John Harrison take anything else way from him and Luna.

* * *

Jim simply sat on his bed like a zombie. Luna was straightening out a few things on his suit while he continued to sit. The whole night was full of restless sleep, crying, and pondering life. It was hard for them both, but Luna was going to be as strong as she could manage to be for Jim. Pike was way more important to Jim, and Jim was always expected to be the strong one. He needed a break from all of that, and he needed time to be emotionally vulnerable around the one person he could be.

Just as Luna finished getting Jim ready, their eyes met. Jim felt so much love for her in that moment. That's when he was reminded that anything could happen at any moment. Jim opened his mouth to finally say those words that had been burning on his lips for what seemed like years. Luna could feel it too. She felt like this was it. This was the moment Jim had been talking about. They could finally say it and be done with all of this back and forth…but then Jim's communicator went off, and the moment was just ripped away from them before it could even happen.

Luna coughed, breaking away from Jim to go put the last of her makeup on while Jim looking down, thinking about what almost happened. He took a deep breath, wishing their opportunity could just happen all ready. His communicator beeped again, leaving Jim with no choice but answering it. He pressed the talk button, not feeling like introducing himself in the usual greeting. "Yeah?"

"Commander," That was Spock. "Mr. Scott has found something in the wreckage of Harrison's ship." Luna hurried out of the bathroom, ears alerted on what else Spock had to say. "He has asked to see the three of us right away." They didn't need any clarification on who the third person was.

* * *

After nearly pleading with Bones to let the two out of the house, they had finally made it to Starfleet HQ. The three ran to Scotty who was holding a large weapon in the middle of the courtyard. "Captain!" Scotty yelled out to them, making them run faster. Once they had finally reached Scotty, he began talking quickly. "I found this in the crashed jumpship, sir. This is how the bastard got away."

"What do you mean?" Jim asked, shaking his head while Scotty handed him the piece of technology, everything Scotty said foreign to him.

"It's a portable transwarp beaming device."

Luna turned to look at Spock before staring at Scotty again. "Well, can you figure out where he went?"

Scotty turned to Luna, taking a deep sigh. "I already did. And you're not gonna like it." He clicked a button on the beaming device, showing the latitude and longitude to where he went. They each let out a deep sigh, each knowing where that was, and why John Harrison picked to go there. "He's gone to the one place we...just can't go."

Luna then picked her head up in thought. "Admiral Marcus."

They all turned to her, confused at what she was saying. "What do you mean?" Jim asked her.

"He's the one person who can get us on a trip to capture John Harrison with Starfleet protection."

"How do you know he'll say yes?" Spock asked, confused at how she had just come up with this plan out of nowhere."

"Christopher Pike is Marcus' protégé." Luna told him with a shrug. Jim felt a large gulp go down his throat at the mention of Pike before Luna turned back to him. "If there's anyone who's more furious and broken by Pike's death than us, it's Admiral Marcus."

Jim thought over what she said for a minute, staring at her the entire time. If this was true, and they went after Harrison, they would be starting a war. He didn't want Luna to be any part of them waging it. "Spock and I will go. You two, work on prepping the crew."

"Aye, sir." Scotty immediately responded, but Luna didn't like the sound of that.

Jim turned away, and began walking toward the Headquarters entrance. "Jim!" Luna yelled after him, but he didn't turn around. It was like he was on a death mission. "Jim!" She called again, a little louder this time.

Jim turned around quickly to look at her, stopping Spock at the look of Luna having to catch her balance from Jim's quick movements. "What, Luna?" She blinked a couple of times, never really hearing this tone from him. It was like he was annoyed with her, and not in the playful way. "You told me what to do, and I'm doing it. Thank you, but I can take it from here."

"Jim," Luna began cautiously, afraid of what was going to set off his temper. "You are too hell bent on revenge right now. Just take a moment, and think – "

"I'm not going to take a moment and think!" Luna jumped back a little at his outburst. "Because I know going after John Harrison is the only way to end this. The only way to make sure Starfleet is safe." He threw his hands in the air, obviously upset with her. "Isn't that what you told me to do?" Luna thought it was so silly, but she could feel tears brim to her eyes at the way he was talking to her. It wasn't like he was screaming, but he had never talked to her like she was a nuisance before. "And I need you to do your job."

Luna took a deep gulp before nodding to Jim. "Yes, captain." The words had barely any sound to them. It was mostly just the sound of Luna holding back her tears. Jim did feel a little guilty for what he had said to her, but this was the only way he was going to make sure she was safe. He had to go after John Harrison. There was no other option. But what if going after him completely destroyed their already fragile relationship?

Jim nodded to her like a captain would nod to his second officer, and then turned around to continue to the front doors. Spock stood there for a moment, looking at Luna, but she just watched Jim as he stormed off. After a few moments, Spock followed Jim, but he kept looking back to Luna as a few tears fell down her face.

Once Jim was in the building, Luna turned around, more tears now falling down her face. Scotty moved towards her, putting his hands on her shoulders while facing her, trying to look her in the eye, but she kept looking down. "Hey," Scotty whispered to her.

That's when she didn't want to hold it in anymore. She threw her arms around his neck and cried into his shoulders. Scotty began to rub her back before placing his chin on top of her head. He hated when she cried, and lately, most of her crying was from Jim. "I know." He whispered to her, continuing to rub her back in small, comforting circles. "The captain can be an asshole sometimes."

That time, Luna laughed, but she just couldn't stop the tears running down her cheeks. "Hey," Scotty spoke again, pulling away from her so he could meet her eyes. They were already puffy and bloodshot as she sniffled, and tried to wipe away her tears. "We have all day to prepare the crew. Why don't we go get some coffee?"

Luna nodded, using her sleeve this time to wipe away her tears. "Come on," Scotty told her while wrapping his arm around her shoulders. "I'm buying."

* * *

Luna didn't really want to talk. She was too burnt out. With everything that had happened last night, and now this with Jim. She felt like she had aged ten years overnight. As she gripped her coffee cup with both hands, all she could continue to think about was her interaction with Jim, and how their relationship had literally gotten worse overnight. "Screw the captain." Scotty finally spoke up. Luna looked up at him, her eyebrows furrowing since it was so random. "You know, if he wants to treat you like that, then he…" Scotty looked like he was really trying to come up with an insult for him. "Piss off."

Luna sighed before leaning back into the sofa in the coffee shop, taking a moment to let her body truly sink into the cushioning. "I just don't know what to do anymore."

Scotty began to shift uncomfortably, wondering what was going to happen to the ship with their relationship the way it was. "How do you think this mission is going to go?" Luna looked up at Scotty, waiting for more clarification. "Do you think people are going to get hurt?"

Luna took a deep sigh, thinking over it before finally answering. "Yeah, I think a lot of people are going to get hurt, especially with Jim's 'shoot first, ask questions later' attitude." Scotty opened his mouth to talk again, but Luna was just flowing with grievances. "Scotty, if things continue the way they're going with Jim, none of us are going to be happy."

Scotty furrowed his eyebrows. Yes, Jim and Luna pissed each other off quite a lot, but Scotty was feeling like it was all boiling down to something bigger, and he had no idea what it would erupt into. "So, what are you going to do about that?"

Luna looked off to the left, not really wanting to meet Scotty's eyes when she said this. "If nothing changes when we come back from the mission…I'm going to have to break up with him."

Scotty's eyes grew wide at what she had said. He had no idea it had gotten this bad. Sure, they argued a hell of a lot more than they used to, but they loved each other. No matter what, they had always loved each other. "But…" Scotty didn't even know how to form this sentence. "You…love him…don't you?"

Luna gulped before nodding in agreement. "That's what makes this so hard." She took a deep breath, trying to keep herself from crying, but Scotty didn't care if she cried. She was his best friend, and always would be. He reached across the table to grab her hand that was lying on the table, trying to let her know that no matter what she decided, he was going to be right there for her. "Scotty, sometimes love just isn't enough."

Scotty looked up at her, sighing. He knew that if this was what she thought was best for her, she was going to do it. He was going to be there for her, though. He offered her a small smile, which she gave back. As long as Scotty didn't leave, Luna would be able to get through this mission.

* * *

The crew all got together shortly after Jim was able to convince Admiral Marcus to let them go after John Harrison. When Jim arrived at the shuttle hanger, he saw Luna as she was making sure the second to last shuttle took off perfectly. He took a deep breath, knowing he had really screwed up earlier.

He took a deep gulp before walking up to her, knowing he had to give her some sort of apology. "Hey."

Luna turned around with a gasp, really not hearing him approaching her. She was way too lost in her own thoughts. She was standing in front of her current boyfriend which in a few days, could end up being her ex-boyfriend. "Hey."

Jim looked so awkward and nervous, and so did Luna, mostly because they almost forgot how to talk to each other. "I just want to apologize to how bossy I had been earlier today. I shouldn't have raised my voice at you."

Luna offered him a small smile, but there was no emotion behind it. Jim knew she was just trying to be polite, and that her smile meant nothing. "It's okay. You were distressed, and I didn't take it personally."

Now Jim gave the small smile that meant nothing. "Thank you for getting the entire crew together, I really do appreciate it."

"Anytime, Captain." Jim didn't know if that or the small smile hurt more.

Jim looked right in her eyes, and he felt like the only way he was going to be able to save this relationship is if he just went ahead and said it. He opened his mouth, wanting to apologize for all the stupid stuff he had said and done, and he wanted to finally tell her what he had wanted to tell her from the first time he saw her face. "Jim!" Jim shut his eyes, knowing that was Bones' voice, and of course, he was the one to ruin this. Bones turned him around by yanking on his shoulder as Luna gave her father a deep sigh from pulling them away from the first moment they had in a long time. "Where were you?"

"For what?" Jim asked, signaling for Luna to walk in front of them so they could all board on the last shuttle.

"Your medical exam." Bones turned to look at the back of his daughter's head. "You too, young lady." Luna decided not to turn around since she would just end up rolling her eyes at him, and she didn't have the attitude right now to deal with banter. "Ten hours ago, you two were in a damn firefight. Now it's my duty as ship's – "

They all stopped when they made it to the steps of the shuttle, Jim turning so he could face him as Luna began climbing up the stairs. "We're fine, Bones."

Bones continued to let Luna walk up the steps, but he stopped Jim by grabbing his shoulder again. "The hell you are." He growled at him, and for a moment, Jim knew he could let his guard down. He could actually convey to someone that everything was falling apart around him, but he wasn't going to let that come in front of him stopping John Harrison.

Jim picked up his steely expression again before answering him. "I'm fine." Jim walked into the ship, noticing Luna sitting by herself on the second row of seats. He took a deep breath, knowing she could have sat in the first set. She knew he had to sit in the first row, and the reason she sat in the second row meant that she was still upset about earlier. You had to be brain dead not to know that, though. Jim took a sigh, sitting in the first row with an empty seat between him and Spock. "Status report, Mr. Spock."

"The Enterprise should be ready for launch by the time we arrive."

"Good. Good."

Luna leaned forward, handing him her PADD. "Before we go on this mission, Starfleet wants us all to sign a liability contract. You're the last one who needs to sign." Jim took it from her, beginning to look through it. "It basically just says if we get taken, caught, or killed, it's not Starfleet's problem."

Jim took another large sigh before just scrolling to the bottom of the document to sign. "I can imagine that this didn't go well with some of the crew."

"Of course, it didn't." Luna scoffed while he handed her PADD back. "And Scotty needs to speak with you when we get on board."

He half turned around to look at her. "About what?"

Luna scoffed again before sitting back in her chair. "I don't know, he kept rambling, but he's pissed."

Jim turned his head back to the front, taking another deep sigh, feeling like all these problems were just arising out of nowhere. "Excellent." He sighed out, obviously annoyed with the situation.

"Captain." Spock spoke up as Bones began to lean towards Jim with his medical equipment. Luna furrowed her eyebrow at him, knowing he was going to get caught. "Thank you for requesting my reinstatement."

Jim gave him a small smile, happy that Spock actually thanked him with no other gains up his sleeve. He really appreciated it. "You're welcome.

"As I am again your First Officer," That's when Jim realized he wasn't saying it out of his gratitude, it was because he wanted to say something about the mission. "It is now my duty to strongly object to our mission parameters."

Jim gave him an annoyed smile while nodding, and looking back to his own PADD. "Of course, it is."

"I mean," Luna spoke up while Bones continued to check his vitals with his various pieces of equipment. "He is kind of right. We _are_ completely abandoning the justice system."

Jim slowly turned around to look at her, his eyes wide from annoyance. "It was your idea to go to Marcus."

She sighed while shaking her head. "Yeah, I thought we were going to capture him, and bring him in front of a court. I didn't know we were going to kill him."

Jim let out a large sigh before turning back to the front while leaning himself into his seat at an attempt to calm down. "There is no Starfleet regulation that condemns a man to die without a trial, something you and Admiral Marcus are forgetting." Spock talking wasn't helping him calm down. "Also, preemptively firing torpedoes at the Klingon homeworld goes against – "

Jim turned to look at him, annoyed. He knew this wasn't the best option, but this was the only way they were going to stop John Harrison. "You yourself said the area's uninhabited. There's only gonna be one casualty. And in case you weren't listening, and didn't read what Ms. McCoy made you sign, our orders have nothing to do with Starfleet regulation."

"Wait a minute." Bones whispered before taking his equipment away from Jim's head. "We're firing torpedoes at the Klingons?!"

Luna began to move forward, sensing this situation needed some diffusing. "Regulations aside, this action is morally wrong." Spock continued, ignoring what Bones had to say.

"Regulations aside, pulling your ass out of a volcano was morally right." There was silence between the four, no one knowing what to say for a moment. "And I didn't win any points for that."

"Jim," Luna whispered, placing her hand on Jim's shoulder, rubbing it slightly. "Calm down."

He turned to look at her, becoming more angered than before. "I'm not gonna take ethics lessons from a robot!"

"Reverting to name-calling suggests that you are defensive and therefore find my opinion valid."

"Spock," Luna spoke in a warning tone, feeling like she was dealing with children at this point. "Don't start."

"I wasn't asking for your opinion." Jim snapped again. That's also when he noticed that medical equipment was lying on his cheek. He took a deep sigh, not even looking back at him. "Bones, get that thing off my face." Bones rolled his eyes before doing what he said.

"Captain, our mission could start a war with the Klingons and it is, by its very definition, immoral." Luna watched Jim and Spock, coming to the conclusion that she was actually leaning toward what Spock was saying. Were they really willing to start a war to capture one criminal? "Perhaps you should take the requisite time to arrive at this conclusion for yourself."

Jim looked like he was fuming, finding himself opening his mouth, but then getting interrupted. "Captain Kirk." The four of them looked to the woman standing in front of them. She had blonde hair cut into a bob, bright blue eyes, and she was wearing a grey and blue suit. "Science Officer Wallace. I've been assigned to the Enterprise by Admiral Marcus." She also had an accent. Everyone, but Spock's, eyes were on her. She was beautiful, but the accent really sent her over the top. Luna was even finding herself mesmerized by her. "These are my transfer orders." She told Jim while handing over her PADD.

Jim took the PADD, but Luna and Bones kept staring. When Luna finally looked away, she noticed her father's eyes were still fixed on her. She quickly looked back and forth at the two, an idea poking at her head while a smile grew on her face. "You requested an additional science officer, Captain?" Spock finally asked, tearing Luna out of her thoughts."

"I wish I had." Jim mumbled before looking back down at the PADD. Luna got up, and moved to the seat in between Jim and Spock so she would be able to read over it as well. "'Lieutenant Carol Wallace.'" Luna began reading off aloud. "'Doctorate in applied physics, specializing in advanced weaponry.'"

"Impressive credentials." Jim spoke, meeting eyes with Luna as she nodded.

"Thank you." Carol immediately smiled to.

"But redundant now that I am back aboard the Enterprise." Luna and Jim shared a devious look. They still wanted to get back at Spock, and Luna was working on a plan associated with her father. It might have been redundant, but it would be a whole lot of fun.

Jim handed the PADD back to Carol while both Jim and Luna turned back to her with big smiles on their faces. She almost jumped at the sudden movement and the devious smiles. It was like they had a conversation in their minds. "And yet, the more the merrier." Jim finally spoke.

Luna gave her a big smile, pointing to the seat she was just sitting in with her father. "Have a seat, Doctor."

Carol was feeling a little uneasy about what the two were planning, but she gave them a polite smile and nod anyway. "Thank you."

Once she sat down next to Bones, Luna turned around, giving her that same big smile from earlier. She reached her hand out, really hoping that if she was going to try to set this up that Carol was going to be a nice person. "Lieutenant Commander McCoy, but you can call me Luna."

Jim's eyes drifted to Luna while she was turned completely around, a small smirk growing on his face, knowing exactly what she was doing. "And this is Bones." Luna spoke while turning her head to look at her father. "He's the Chief Medical Officer."

Carol turned to look at him, giving him a smile while Bones just continued to watch his daughter with a confused look on his face. "That's impressive." Carol told him with a nod. "Congratulations."

Bones just gave her a charming smile that Carol blushed to. Luna got an even bigger smile on her face while she just shrugged. "Hopefully you two are going to be great friends."

Luna turned back to the front, not giving any more explanation, and not wanting to cut into their time of the first conversation they would have together. When she went back to sitting in the front, Jim pushed his fist out, trying to avoid looking at her, knowing that would tip Bones off even more. Without looking to Jim, she brought her first to his, the two tapping knuckles at what they had accomplished. Bones needed someone, and who better than a super-hot science officer who randomly got reassigned to the Enterprise?

 _ **MisfitCarter: Lol, honestly me too. I was crying because why would they do that to my man Pike? That's why I love writing and reading OCs, there's just so much more to it if that makes sense. Thank you for your review, love, and I'll keep my tissues close too.**_

 _ **Love. Fiction. 2017: I think I could feel everyone's heart break at the same time lol. Thank you for your review, love!**_

 _ **Who's trash for not updating like I said I would? I'm trash. No, but school started this week and I was like shit, I told them I would probably update once a week. I also feel like this chapter is kind of boring too, but hopefully next update will be more exciting. Hopefully 1-2 weeks is a better time estimate especially since my dumb self decided to take a whole lot of English based courses, but hey, what else am I supposed to do as an English major? I hope you all like this chapter, and please remember to review! See ya next time, Trekkies!**_


	5. The Beginning

"No!" Each of them could hear Scotty's screams as they got off the shuttle and began to make their way through the engineering deck. "I'm not signing anything! Now, get these bloody things off my ship!"

Luna leaned into Jim while adjusting the duffle bag over her shoulder. "I told you he was pissed." Jim turned to her, giving her a tiny smile, starting to feel there was some resemblance of normalness with her.

"Captain!" Scotty shouted again, now going towards the group.

Jim turned to Luna, sighing a bit, wondering what had really gotten Scotty so worked up. "Do me a favor, and run a flight check for me before we take off."

Luna nodded before meeting his lips in a quick kiss. When Luna turned around, Scotty gave her a confused look at the kiss, knowing that only a few hours ago, she was talking about how she was going to have to break up with him. "Mr. Scott." Luna acknowledge him with a nod, hoping he would not give away anything from their conversation earlier.

"Ms. McCoy." He told her with a nod back, getting what she was trying to tell him before she walked past, and that this was her business to figure out.

Jim watched the two, finding the whole interaction strange, but he was going to get to business as best as he could. "Is there a problem, Mr. Scott?"

"Aye, sir." Scotty almost yelled while throwing his hand at one of the Starfleet men who was loading the torpedoes on the ship. "I was just explaining to this gentleman that I cannot authorize any weapons on board this ship without knowing what's inside them."

"Mr. Scott raises yet another point – "

Jim simply handed Spock a PADD, cutting him off, not wanting to hear any more of this. They were going on this mission whether the rest of the crew liked it or not. "Report to the bridge."

Spock immediately took the PADD from him, but was obviously not happy about it. "Captain." He almost whispered it like a swear word.

Jim shook his head at Spock before turning back to Scotty, trying his best to remain calm in a situation he was already agitated with. "Mr. Scott, I understand your concerns, but we need these torpedoes on board."

"Due respect, sir," Scotty began, doing the same as Jim, trying to remain calm. "But photon torpedoes run on fuel. Now, I cannot detect the type of fuel that's in the compartments on these torpedoes because it's shielded." Scotty took a deep breath, practically feeling the Starfleet cadet's breath breathing on his neck. "Now, I asked for the specifications, but he said," Scotty pointed back to him, giving him the cue to speak.

"It's classified."

"'It's classified!'" Scotty yelled to Jim, trying to show him not only why he was annoyed with the situation, but also why this was a bad idea all around. "So, I said, 'No specs, no signature!'"

"Captain." They all looked up, seeing Sulu standing on one of the upper decks. Jim turned his head to the side at that. Did they really run through the check that fast? "Flight check's complete. We're good to go, sir."

Jim gave him a warm smile, not wanting to convey that anything was wrong. His crew had to be prepared for what was in front of them. "Thank you, Mr. Sulu."

"Yes, sir." Sulu told him with a nod before heading back up to the bridge.

Jim looked back to Scotty, taking a deep sigh, wondering how he was going to get past this. "Now," Scotty breathed out, seeming to be more annoyed now than a few minutes ago. "If you'll excuse me, sir, I have a warp core to prime." As Scotty passed by the torpedoes, he noticed Keenser was sitting on top of one. "Get down!"

As Jim watched him walk off as Bones moved towards him. "Jim, your vitals are way off."

Jim felt like he was going to explode if one more thing went wrong. "Report to the med bay." He told Bones strictly before following after Scotty.

Carol approached Bones, one of her brows furrowing as she watched Jim run off. "Does this kind of thing happen often?"

Bones let out a loud sigh before shaking his head. "Way too often for my liking. Everyone's always running around with their…" Bones struggled to find the right word, but the only word he could come up with was the one word that was going to make him sound inhuman. "Feelings."

Carol found herself smiling a little bit. A normal person would have thought the opposite, but Carol liked the fact that his answer was…truthful. "Yes, that certainly does complicate things, doesn't it?" Bones turned back to look at her, giving her a small smile, and she gave one right back. Bones was even blushing. Just for a little bit, though.

"Scotty!" Once Jim caught up with him, he noticed that Scotty was running around like a mad man with Keenser following, and Jim following Keenser, making it a straight line. "I need you to approve those weapons."

They had almost made it to the warp core, Scotty taking a deep sigh at the way Jim was talking like this was just nothing. "Do you know what this is, Captain?"

"I don't have time for a lecture, Scotty." Jim pouted.

"Do you know what this is?" Scotty asked again once they had made it.

"It's a warp core." Jim sighed out, the two now standing face to face in front of the warp core while Keenser just stood in between the two, watching closely.

"It's a radioactive catastrophe waiting to happen. A subtle shift in magnetic output from, say, firing one or more of six dozen torpedoes with an unknown payload could set off a chain reaction which would kill every living thing on this ship. Letting those torpedoes on board the Enterprise is the last straw!"

Jim just continued to keep his steely composure. "What was the first straw?"

"What was the..." Scotty had to keep from yelling in his face about how the first straw was all he had done to Luna in the past few days. "There are plenty of straws." Scotty took a moment to compose the professional reason this was the last straw. "How about Starfleet confiscating my transwarp equation? And now some madman's using it to hop across the galaxy! Where do you think he got it from?"

"We have our orders, Scotty!" Jim's emotion was starting to break through, and this one was of distress and anger.

"That's what scares me." Jim gulped a little bit, worried that in some way, Scotty was right. "This is clearly a military operation. Is that what we are now? Because I thought we were explorers."

Jim clenched his teeth before speaking. "Sign for the torpedoes, that's an order."

"Right," Scotty nodded, keeping his face as serious as he could manage. "Well, you leave me no choice but to resign my duties."

Jim broke his steely expression by scoffing and shaking his head. He didn't want Scotty to go, but if he wasn't going to keep with the mission, there was nothing he could do. "Come on, Scotty."

"You're giving me no choice, sir." Scotty yelled right back, trying to show he was standing his ground for this one.

" _You're_ not giving _me_ much of a choice." Jim really wanted to keep him, and if he sent Scotty off, he would never hear the end of it from Luna.

"I will not stand by – "

"Will you just make an exception and sign – "

"Do you accept my resignation or not?!"

"I do!" Both Jim and Scotty looked surprised at those words coming out of Jim's mouth. So, Luna was right. John Harrison really had changed Jim. "I do." Jim whispered it that time while bringing his head down. He couldn't believe he was actually sending Scotty away. "You are relieved, Mr. Scott."

Scotty took a deep breath, and looked up at the catwalk above him. He didn't even have time to say goodbye to Luna. That's when he looked back to Jim. He took a deep sigh before leaning forward, and giving him one last warning before he left. "Jim," Jim looked up at him, saddened by what he had just did. "Take care of Luna." Jim nodded like that was an obvious. "I'm serious. She needs you to be who she fell in love with right now, not a military captain." Jim nodded slowly, knowing Luna was going to be pissed about what he had just done. How the hell was he going to tell her? "And for the love of God, do not use those torpedoes."

Scotty then handed him his PADD, followed by Keenser who did the exact same before following Scotty out. Jim just watched the two, feeling a heaviness in his chest, and the nervous butterflies in his stomach. How could he tell Luna that he just sent her best friend off the ship?

* * *

Jim had changed into his yellow shirt, and began ascending to the bridge, but Uhura was hurrying after him. "Captain!" Jim didn't even look back to her, he had become so lost in his thoughts, he didn't even want to communicate. Once she had caught up to him, though, she stayed right by him. "I'm so sorry about Admiral Pike."

"We all are." Jim answered quickly.

Yes, Uhura and Jim had started out rocky. Up until last year, their relationship was mostly just the two tolerating each other. Now, they actually considered each other close friends. There was a lot of assumptions one had about the other, but after they all took on a Romulan from the future, you're kind of bonded for life about that crazy life experience. And Uhura knew something was going on with Jim. "Are you okay?"

"Fine, thank you, Lieutenant." The two got into the elevator, and only seconds passed before Jim finally blurted out what was really wrong. "Actually, Scotty just quit."

Uhura quickly snapped her head to him, her eyes wide. Wow, now she knew why he was acting like that. "How are you going to tell Luna?"

Jim let out a small helpless chuckle while shrugging his shoulders. "I really have no idea." Uhura opened her mouth to begin giving him some advice, but Jim just continued to talk. It was like he hadn't talked to anyone in days. "And your boyfriend's second-guessing me every chance he gets." Jim then looked at Uhura, realizing he shouldn't have been talking to his Lieutenant like this. "I'm sorry, that was inappropriate. It's just sometimes I want to rip the bangs off his head. You know, maybe it's me. I – "

"It's not you." Uhura quickly said before Jim could start rambling again.

Jim turned to look at her, his arms still crossed from earlier. "It's not? Wait, are you guys... Are you guys fighting?"

Uhura turned to him, completely annoyed with the situation. "I'd rather not talk about it, _sir_."

"Oh, my God!" Jim exclaimed, eyes now wide. "What is that even like?"

Uhura opened her mouth to refute what he had said, but the elevator doors opened, and Spock was standing right there. Uhura watched him as she walked to her seat, deciding not to say a word to him, or show him any emotions. All Spock could do was watch her. Jim took this opportunity to tease Spock since he couldn't do it often. "Your ears burning?" Spock looked after him, feeling his jaw want to drop, but he wasn't going to give Jim or Uhura that satisfaction.

"Captain on the bridge!" Luna turned around right when Chekov said that, offering Jim a smile, but he didn't give her one back. He just kept walking, avoiding all eye contact with her.

Jim made it to Chekov, leaning down so Luna wouldn't hear what he had to say. "Mr. Chekov," Chekov quickly glanced at Luna before looking back to Jim, wondering why he was talking to him before the flight and not her. "You've been shadowing Mr. Scott. You are familiar with the engineering systems of this ship?"

That caught Luna's attention enough for her to look at her boyfriend while his back was turned from her. He never did that, and even if he did have to talk to Chekov or Sulu, he had never fully blocked her view of what was going on because he understood she was in charge of this area. Now, he was blocking her knowledge of what was going on in her area. "Affirmative, sir." Chekov answered after a long pause.

"Good." Jim gave him a bright smile before nodding to him, and clapping him on the shoulder. "You're my new Chief. Go put on a red shirt."

Luna completely straightened up at that. What the hell did he mean by "new Chief"? Where the hell was Scotty? "Aye, Captain."

Chekov ran off to follow his captain's orders, and because he really didn't want to be around when Luna was mad. Jim turned around, locking eyes with Luna. "Captain," she began as Jim moved away from her. "Captain," she just simply followed him, knowing there weren't many places he could go so close to flight. "Captain, why is Chekov in engineering. He is the best navigator I have."

"Ms. McCoy," Jim sounded impatient when talking to her, making everyone's ears turn in that direction at the rare public fight between the two. "This is my ship, and I decide who goes where."

"Where is Scotty?" She asked the question so harsh that it almost sounded like she spoke it through her teeth.

"Not on the ship." He told her blandly, still avoiding eye contact with her at all costs. "Now if you could please get back to your station and fly us to our specified destination, Ms. McCoy."

"Jim," His first name cut through the air of the bridge, making everyone go stiff. "Do I need to remind you that Scotty is one of your best – "

"AND DO I NEED TO REMIND _YOU_ , MS. MCCOY," That time, everyone turned to the couple, but no one jumped as hard as Luna did when she heard him yell. "THAT _I_ AM YOUR CAPTAIN, AND I AM _COMMANDING_ _YOU_ TO FLY THIS SHIP."

Right when he was done yelling, he stared at Luna, realizing he just publicly yelled at his girlfriend in front of their whole crew. He moved a step toward her, but she went a step back. "Yes," her voice was shaky, and everyone's eyes were still glued to the situation going on between their Captain and Second Officer. "Captain." That word cut even deeper than the others as she backed away from him, and angrily sat down at her seat, refusing to look back at the Captain.

Everyone slowly turned their heads away from the two, getting back to work. Jim then sunk down into his chair, feeling the guilt and anger with himself begin to eat at his chest. He had just pushed her further away when he should have been pulling her closer. Isn't that what Scotty just told him to do? Luna, she had made it up in her mind that after this mission was done, so would be her relationship with Jim.

 _ **MisfitCarter: Haha yes Bones and Carol! I'm so excited for it! I feel like Carol is so underappreciated. They will fix things eventually! I promise even if it doesn't seem like it after this chapter. I'm sorry you had a crappy week, love, but I'm happy I could make it a little better. Thank you for your review!**_

 _ **Love. Fiction. 2018: Thank you, love!**_

 _ **Rebootfan: It's totally fine! I'm in college too, and I know how it can get! Take your time and make sure you get everything taken care of, I'll still be here!**_


	6. The Mission

After the ship had taken off, Jim requested Uhura open a ship wide channel. Luna just continued to stare forward at the clear space they were headed through. She tried to keep her face as steely as possible, but she couldn't help the small tears silently trickling down her face. "Channel open, sir." Uhura reported.

Jim continued to stare at the back of Luna's head, knowing he had really messed up, and he had to fix it somehow. "Attention, crew of the Enterprise. As most of you know, Christopher Pike, former captain of this ship and our friend, is dead." Jim took a long pause after that sentence, still wishing it wasn't true. "The man who killed him has fled our system and is hiding on the Klingon homeworld, somewhere he believes we are unwilling to go. We are on our way there now." Luna shut her eyes, wishing this mission wasn't happening. Wishing none of this had ever happened. She even found herself wishing she had never joined Starfleet. She didn't want to be here, and she didn't want to be with Jim.

"Per Admiral Marcus, it is essential that our presence go undetected. Tensions between the Federation and the Klingon Empire have been high. Any provocation could lead to an all-out war." Jim continued to stare at Luna, knowing he had to make this better. "I will personally lead a landing party to an abandoned city on the surface of Kronos where we will capture the fugitive, John Harrison, and return him to Earth, so he can face judgment for his actions." Both Luna and Spock turned to look at each other, not expecting that of Jim. The two of them went from looking at each other to look back at Jim. As Jim looked at her, noticing her eyes wet, he slowly lipped: I'm sorry.

Luna continued to stare at him, knowing he was just pulling her right back in, and she was completely conflicted. Scotty was her best friend, but she was in love with Jim. But she did tell Scotty that sometimes love wasn't enough to keep a relationship going. She just gulped and turned back to her seat, knowing that maybe this decision would be harder than she thought.

Jim took a deep sigh, knowing that what he did was unforgiveable, but he was going to keep Scotty's advice in the back of his mind about Luna. "All right. Let's go get this son of a bitch. Kirk out."

Once Jim was done, Spock approached him, making Luna sigh, knowing if Spock was going up there then as second officer, she was going to have to go up there too. She stood up from her spot and stood on Jim's left with Spock on his right. "Captain," Spock stated as soon as Luna made it to her spot. I believe you have made the right decision." Spock and Jim looked at Luna, expecting her to say something else to follow the usual pattern of conversation between the three, but she just continued to stand there, annoyed. Jim pursed his lips and turned to look forward, knowing that was going to happen. "If I can be of assistance," Spock spoke to break the tension. "I would be happy to accompany you on the away team."

"You?" Luna scoffed, finally meeting Spock's eyes. "Happy?"

"I was simply attempting to use your vernacular to convey an idea."

Luna gave a slight eye roll, but Jim gave Spock a warm smile and nod. "Thank you, Mr. Spock."

The two again turned to Luna, hoping she would say something to them. She took a deep sigh, knowing she had to talk. "I guess, you can count on me too, Captain."

"Well," Jim spoke with a slight smile. "I assume 'I guess' is better than nothing." Luna stared an angry stare for another moment before walking back to her seat.

Jim sighed as he watched her walk away, and Spock began to lean into Jim. "Captain, may I suggest – "

"No." Jim quickly said, really not wanting relationship advice from Spock. "Please, no."

* * *

Carol was intently studying the torpedoes, running a detection machine over it when Bones smacked his hands on it in a beat. Carol screamed and jumped at the sudden noise, Bones realizing she didn't see him coming. "Are you insane?!" She screamed at him. "Why would you hit a torpedo with your bare hands?!"

Bones gave her a small smile, trying to apologize for it as best as he could. "Sorry, wasn't thinking."

"Obviously." Carol mumbled under her breath before going back to her device.

Bones sighed slightly, realizing this was not going off to a good start. "Well, I came down here to tell you that lunch is up in the med bay."

"I'm not in medical sciences, Dr. McCoy." She told him quickly while still looking down at her device.

Bones sighed slightly, knowing she had a point, but he didn't want that to be the end of the conversation. "I mean, they're going to send lunch to you at some point. You might as well get it now."

Carol's eyes slowly moved up to his with a small smile on her face. "So, I'll eat then."

Bones got a flirty smile on his face, knowing what was happening even if he hadn't done it in a while. "Look, as the ship's attending physician, I request that you eat now."

"Dr. Wallace," They both turned around to see Spock standing there. Bones gave him an annoyed stare. Spock always kind of got in his way, but this time, he was getting in the way of something way more important to him than normal.

Bones quickly looked back to Carol, giving her a little wink. "Lunch is upstairs if you want it."

Carol could feel herself blushing as he walked away from her, but when she turned away from him, Spock was right in front of her. She jumped slightly before calming down to address what Spock wanted from her. "Mr. Spock." She sighed out, trying to regain her breath. "You startled me."

"What are you doing, Doctor?"

Carol looked back to the missiles she was working on with a confused glance before turning back to him. "Verifying that the torpedo's internal - "

"You misunderstand." Spock spoke in his monotone again, making Carol nervous since she was fearing something in the back of her mind. "What are you doing aboard this ship? There is no record of you being assigned to the Enterprise."

She offered Spock a large smile, trying to keep her cool, afraid that he had found out her secret. "Really? That must be some sort of mistake."

"My conclusion as well, Dr. Marcus." The second he used her _real_ last name, she went stiff, and her smile slowly fell. "Except that you have lied about your identity. Wallace is the surname of your mother. I can only assume the Admiral is your father."

Carol had to think over what to do. She liked her lips before moving closer to him, hoping she would be able to negotiate with him. "Mr. Spock. I'm aware that I have no right to ask this of you. But please, he cannot know that I'm here – " Suddenly, the ship jarred forward.

Everyone on the bridge fell forward, and Luna slammed into the controls, hitting her nose so hard she could feel warm liquid beginning to trickle out of her nostrils. Jim hurried to her, placing a hand on her back as she tried to wipe the blood off her face. "Engineering manually dropped us out of warp, sir."

Jim still kept his hand on Luna's back while he weaved his other hand around her to connect to Chekov. "Mr. Chekov, did you break my ship?"

"Sorry, sir!" Chekov yelled over the radio, Luna only pictured him running around the engineering deck like a chicken with his head cut off. "I don't know what happened! The core overheated. I had to activate the emergency stop. It must be a coolant leak. I need time to find it." Luna slowly turned to look at Jim with an annoyed face, knowing that if Scotty was still here, he would probably make sure that didn't happen before they took off. Jim rolled his eyes at her dramatically, knowing exactly what she was thinking when she finally removed her hands from her face. "Sorry, Captain."

Luna looked to her left as Sulu continued to see if there was anything else he could do to get them moving again. "Sulu, what's the time to our destination?"

He sighed, staring down at the controls before finally looking up at her. "Twenty minutes."

Luna turned back to Jim, shaking her head as her eyes drifted off in thought. "That's twenty minutes in enemy space we weren't counting on."

"All right. We better hop to it." Jim spoke while walking back up to the captain's chair.

When Luna stood up, Bones was there, immediately taking her face in his hands to inspect her nose. "Oh my god." She spoke in a muffled voice from him blocking her mouth.

When Jim turned back to them, he simply sighed and turned back to what was in front of him. That's when he realized Spock was no longer on the bridge. "Where's Spock?"

Spock then appeared what seemed like out of nowhere. "Here, Captain."

"You're coming with me to Kronos." Jim told him with a nod before turning to Uhura. "Lieutenant, how's your Klingon?"

"It's rusty, but it's good."

"Good, you're coming, too."

Luna finally broke away from Bones, moving towards Jim with a slightly annoyed face. "Um, me too."

Jim slowly turned to her while shaking his head. "No, it's too dangerous."

Luna let out a little laugh while crossing her arms. "Yeah, and you literally yelled at me in front of the whole bridge. You owe me one."

Jim let out a loud, annoyed sigh before turning back to Spock and Uhura, getting back to what he wanted to ask them. "This isn't going to be a problem, is it, you two working together?"

"Absolutely not." Uhura answered immediately before giving Spock a dirty look, and then walking off.

Spock turned to Jim with a slightly terrified look. "Unclear."

Jim already felt like this mission was going to shit, and Luna just glanced Spock, not too happy with him as well. "I'll meet you in the shuttle bay." He sighed out, really not wanting this all to go bad when they had it all at the tip of his fingers.

He turned to look at Luna, motioning with his head for her to follow him. She hurried to make sure she was right next to him, really wanting to talk to him before they did this. "Luna, Jim," She sighed once she realized Bones was blocking them from moving. "You're not actually going down there, are you? You don't rob a bank when the getaway car has a flat tire."

Jim mulled over what he said before turning to his chair, pressing the button to reach Chekov. "I'm sure engineering will have us all patched up by the time we get back. Isn't that right, Mr. Chekov?"

"Yes, Captain." Luna looked to the speaker with a quizzical look on her face, knowing he didn't sound too sure, but Jim just gave Bones a big, confident smile. "I'll do my best, sir."

Jim then turned around to look at Sulu, Luna moving even closer to him, making Jim know automatically that there was something she wanted to talk about before their mission. "Mr. Sulu, you have the conn. Once we're on route, I want you to transmit a targeted comm burst to Harrison's location. You tell him you have a bunch of real big torpedoes pointed at his head and if he doesn't play nice, you're not afraid to use them." Sulu's eyes slowly drifted downward, concerning both Jim and Luna. "Is that a problem?"

"No, sir." Luna moved her head forward, expecting more to come from that. "I've just never sat in the chair before."

They both smiled, Luna giving him a little wink. "You're gonna do great, Sulu."

Jim and Luna turned around to head to the elevator, but Bones hurried after them. "Jim! Wait! You just sat that man down at a high-stakes poker game with no cards and told him to bluff. Now Sulu's a good man, but he is no captain."

Jim looked off at Sulu as he spoke. "For the next two hours, he is." Jim then processed that this was the second metaphor in less than five minutes. "And enough with the metaphors, all right? That's an order."

"Yeah." Luna scoffed, getting really annoyed with his constant interjecting. "Where's Carol? Don't you have more flirting to do?"

Bones' mouth dropped, not realizing his daughter noticed he was attracted to a woman. "How the hell do you know about that?"

Jim and Luna slowly turned to each other with an amused stare before turning back to Bones. "How does everyone on this ship not know that?" Jim almost laughed out.

Luna leaned forward, rubbing her father on the arm with a pouty lip. "It's really cute, daddy. Watching you _try_ to flirt."

Bones angrily looked back and forth at the two before making way for them to walk past him. "Will you two get the hell out of here?"

They both smiled at him before walking to the elevator. Once they got inside, and the door shut, the two moved to look at each other. "I am so sorry." Jim almost whispered, feeling so bad for everything that had happened to them.

"Look," Luna began. "I don't want to go into this thing being mad at each other, knowing something can happen to any of us."

"I feel the same way." Jim sighed out.

"Even though I should really smack you in your gorgeous face for everything you've done to me for the past few days."

Jim thought over what she said before looking to her with his idea face. "Slap me then."

Luna had to blink a couple of times. "What?"

"Slap me." Jim said obviously while shrugging. "I obviously deserve it."

"Yeah, but I don't know how I feel about that."

"Come on just slap me."

"Jim."

"Slap me!"

Luna struck him in the face as hard as she could right when the elevator doors opened where multiple lieutenants saw it. Jim and Luna turned to look at them, not sure how to address that situation. Jim wiped the shock off his face before putting on his professional one, and nodded to them. "Carry on."

They all did as he said before Luna looped her arm through his as they walked towards their room to change. "Did I do it too hard?"

Jim stretched his jaw before looking to her. "I mean, damn Luna, I'll be surprised if I have feeling back in it at the end of the day."

* * *

Jim, Luna, Spock, and Uhura moved to their shuttle where two red shirts were waiting for them. "Ready to deploy, Captain." One red shirt reported once they had reached them.

"Lieutenants," Jim announced while handing them both different duffle bags. Up close, Jim realized one of the red shirts was Jeremy. He almost forgot Cupcake was on the ship. "Lose the red shirts. You are K'normian arms dealers. Put those on."

The two lieutenants looked to each other and then back to their captain with a puzzled stare. "Sir?"

Luna looked to them when she was about to walk into the ship, knowing if her and Jim were going to get back to normal they had to begin working with each other like a team again, and a lot of the times, that included saying what the other was going to say. "Look, if this thing goes south, there can be nothing tying us to Starfleet."

Jim nodded, knowing what she had said was more or less what he was going to say. "Unless of course you want to start a war, Mr. Hendorff."

Jeremy looked down, feeling both Jim and Luna's eyes burning a hole into him. Although, that could go back to his previous experience with the two. "No, sir."

"Good." Jim told them with a little smile as Luna climbed into the ship, and Jim began to follow after her. "Me, neither."

Once the lieutenants had changed, they made their way to the planet, and by further examination, were able to see a ship docked by the planet. "I am detecting a single life sign in the Ketha Province." Spock announced.

Luna looked across the data at her seat next to Spock. She sighed before looking ahead again, thinking about how they wouldn't have been able to get here if it wasn't for what Scotty had done before they left. "Given the information provided by Mr. Scott, this is most likely John Harrison."

Jim sighed a little bit at how sad Luna sounded when she said his name, but they had to continue on with this mission no matter what happened. "Mr. Sulu," Jim announced through the radio. "I think we found our man. You let him know you mean business."

"Aye, Captain." Everyone on their shuttle, and everyone on the Enterprise seemed to fall silent, ready to hear what Sulu had. "Attention, John Harrison. This is Captain Hikaru Sulu of the U.S.S. Enterprise. A shuttle of highly trained officers is on its way to your location. If you do not surrender to them immediately, I will unleash the entire payload of advanced long-range torpedoes currently locked onto your location. You have two minutes to confirm your compliance. Refusal to do so will result in your _obliteration_." Luna felt her eyebrows lift, never hearing this side of Sulu before, and they had known each other for years. "If you test me, you will fail."

Everyone on the ship was shocked, but not as shocked as Bones was from previously doubting him. "Mr. Sulu," He nearly whispered, unsure of what he would do if he was provoked right now. "Remind me never to piss you off."

Luna turned around to look at Jim, mostly just because she wanted to look at him in case something went wrong. She wanted to spend as much time looking at him as she could. "We'll arrive at Harrison's location in three minutes, Captain."

"It is unlikely that he will come willingly." Spock added while Luna placed her hands back on the wheel. "I calculate the odds of him attempting to kill us at 91.6%."

"Fantastic." Jim scoffed.

"Good thing you don't care about dying." Uhura said quickly, really wanting just Spock to hear it, but everyone heard it, and everyone turned their head toward her.

Silence passed, no one knowing what to say until Spock decided to break that silence. "I am sorry, Lieutenant. I could not hear what you said."

"Oh, I didn't say anything." Everyone slowly turned back forward, wanting to just let the awkward moment go, but Uhura began speaking again. "Actually, I'd be happy to speak if you're willing to listen to me."

"Guys." Jim called out, afraid this would happen as Luna began to slide into her chair, trying to hide into her jacket like a frightened turtle.

"Lieutenant," Spock said quickly, trying to stop her from speaking. "I would prefer to discuss this in private."

"You'd prefer not to discuss this at all." She bit back.

"Our current circumstances – "

Jim turned to Luna, hoping to get her help in this, but she just continued sinking into her jacket. Jim let out an irritated sigh, knowing Luna wouldn't be any help, before looking back to Spock and Uhura. "Are you really gonna do this right now?"

Uhura just continued talking right over Jim, though. "What never seems to require your undivided focus – " She stopped herself, knowing she had to say something to Jim. "I'm sorry, Captain," Uhura about yelled. "Just two seconds."

Jim sighed, knowing there was no stopping them, and threw his hand in their direction. "Okay." He then turned his attention to Luna whose hair was just sticking out now. "What about you? You were no help in this situation."

She popped her head out of her jacket with an offended look on her face. "You know I don't do well with couple conflicts because my dad decided to hoe around the whole Midwest."

"At that volcano," Uhura started, throwing Jim and Luna's conversation to the side, and only focusing on her and Spock. "You didn't give a thought to us. What it would do to me if you died, Spock. You didn't feel anything. You didn't care." She turned back to what was in front of her, feeling herself getting emotional. "And I'm not the only one who's upset with you. The Captain and Luna are, too.

"Wha" Jim began, blindsided by being mentioned. "No, no, no."

Luna tried to turn all the way around, but she could only turn as much as her seatbelt would let her. "Don't drag us into this."

Luna adjusted back into her seat comfortably, and some time passed before Jim decided to speak up. "Uhura _is_ right."

"Jim!" Luna yelled while throwing her hand in the air. "What happened to staying out of it?!"

"Well, she's right!" Jim yelled out, becoming flustered with the whole conversation. "I'm pissed, and don't act like you're not either! When's the last time you actually talked to him?"

Luna opened her mouth to argue again, but Spock stopped them. "Your suggestion that I do not care about dying is incorrect." They all turned to look at him, but Spock just looked down while he spoke. "A sentient being's optimal chance at maximizing their utility is a long and prosperous life."

"Great." Uhura spoke in a monotone voice while rolling her eyes.

"Not exactly a love song, Spock." Luna whispered, not sure what he was trying to accomplish by quoting himself.

"You misunderstand." They all got quiet again, noticing Spock's voice sounded way more serious than usual. "It is true I chose not to feel anything upon realizing that my own life was ending. As Admiral Pike was dying, I joined with his consciousness and experienced what he felt at the moment of his passing." Luna turned to look at Jim, but he just kept his head down. She wished their seats weren't as far apart as they were so she could be able to hold his hand and comfort him. "Anger. Confusion. Loneliness. Fear. I had experienced those feelings before, multiplied exponentially on the day my planet was destroyed. Such a feeling is something I choose never to experience again. Nyota, you mistake my choice not to feel as a reflection of my not caring." Uhura's head fell into her seat, taking deep breaths, feeling like she had everything completely wrong in these past few days. "Well, I assure you, the truth is precisely the opposite."

That's when something jarred the ship. "What the hell was that?" Jim asked as they tried to regain their bearings.

Luna tried to get a hold of the controls again, but the blast was too strong. "We are being pursued by a D-4 class Klingon vessel." Spock reported.

Luna turned to look at Jim with a terrified look on her face. "I thought this sector was abandoned!"

"It must be a random patrol." Uhura reported.

Jim kept his stare with Luna for a moment but went back to what was in front of him, knowing he had to take control to keep her anxiety under control. "Hold on!" He took his controls over, knowing only his recklessness would get him out of this.

"This ship has no offensive capabilities." Luna stressed, feeling a panic attack beginning to rise.

"It's got us." He assured her with a small smile, knowing just a little smile from him would calm her slightly. "Give me all six fuel cells." Jim demanded to Spock after turning away from Luna.

"Aye, Captain."

Jim accelerated, but the Klingon ship kept behind them, and began firing again. Another blast jarred the ship, worrying the red shirts on board. "Damn it!" Jim cursed, trying to get control of the ship again.

"They're closing fast," Uhura reported while staring at her screen. "Bearing 285!"

Jim was able to spot a small opening on his map, giving him either a really bright or really dumb idea. "All right, there! There! We can lose them there."

Luna looked to what he had pointed out on the map, taking a deep, worried breath and letting out a slight laugh at this suicidal thought. "If you are _suggesting_ that we utilize the passage between the approaching structures, this ship will _not_ fit."

"We'll fit." Jim assured matter-o-factly as Luna tried to dodge all of the blasts being sent the ship's way.

Luna turned around to look at Spock, hoping he would be able to help her convince Jim that this idea was crazy. "Captain," Spock spoke, matching Luna's tone of worry. "We will not fit."

"We'll fit, we'll fit!" Jim screamed while taking control of the steering. Everyone screamed as Jim turned them sideways and went full blast through the crevice. The ship could no longer follow them, but they continued to smash into the walls until they finally made it through the other side. They all took a few moments to breathe, knowing they barely made it through. Luna slowly turned to Jim with an angry stare. Jim offered her a small smile as strands were now wildly coming out of her tight bun. "I told you we'd fit."

Luna rolled her eyes and began to focus on where she would land them. "I am not sure that qualifies." Spock spoke in a condescending tone while Luna slowed down but made sure to stay alert.

"Any sign of them?" Jim asked while Luna continued to pivot the ship, ready to get them out of there if need be.

"No." Uhura sighed out. "Which worries me."

"We lost them!" Jim yelled out in excitement. No one else was sharing his excitement though, knowing nothing was certain.

"Or they're jamming our scanners." Uhura brought up.

"Or we lost them." Jim said again, not understanding why they were all so doubtful.

That's when the Klingon ship showed up in front of them, a spotlight going directly on them. They were completely surrounded by various Klingon ships, and their speakers came on, yelling angry Klingon at them. They each looked around at the ships, not sure what to do. "They're ordering us to land." Uhura finally translated. "Captain, they're gonna want to know why we're here." Everyone's breath began to pick up, thinking about all the possible scenarios, knowing that none of them would be a happy ending. "And they're gonna torture us. Question us. And they're gonna kill us.

"So, we come out shooting." Jim answered simply.

Luna shook her head, knowing that would not work out in their favor. "We're outnumbered, outgunned." Luna took a pause to shut her eyes and take a deep breath. No matter what happened, no matter what situation crossed her mind next, they were going to die. "There's no way we survive if we attack first."

Uhura unbuckled her seat belt and moved to Jim, looking him dead in the eyes. "Sir, you brought me here because I speak Klingon. Then let me speak Klingon."

They each knew she had a point, but they didn't want to put Uhura in that danger. Jim took a huge sigh before nodding and looking to Luna. "Land us." Luna turned to the controls, and began to land them, but she felt worry in the pit of her stomach.

Uhura hurried to the entrance once Luna landed, and the three left in the ship moved closer together to watch what would happen.

"This isn't going to work." Jim sighed out.

"It is our only logical option." Spock spoke with a shrug while Jim placed his hand on Luna's hip out of nerves. "And if you interrupt her now, you will not only incur the wrath of the Klingons but that of Lieutenant Uhura as well." They each looked to each other, knowing that was true as the red shirts moved behind them to watch as well.

Uhura stood in front of the large group of men, and the conversation began. Jim's anxiety began to rise before running to the guns stowed away on the ship. He quickly handed everyone a gun, and the red shirts thanked him as he quickly sat down next to Luna again. Luna just stared at him until he looked at her. When he met her eyes, he pulled her close and shut his eyes while kissing the temple of her head. He knew that if something happened, this was the last moment he wanted with her. Not the fighting they were doing, but he wanted this. Just holding her and being close with her as she rested on his chest.

Spock stared at them, wishing he could say that if something happened to Uhura out there. He turned his gaze back to her, terrified of what would happen. As the conversation escalated, the Klingon grabbed Uhura by the neck and began to raise her to be eye level with him. Everyone tensed, not sure if they should break it up or let Uhura handle it. As the Klingon pulled out a knife, shots rained on the group, and everyone began to fall back.

When they looked to the shooter, he was wearing a cloak, but his weapons were familiar to them. They were Starfleet weapons. "We gotta go!" Jim yelled while running out of the ship.

Spock followed, but Luna was still mesmerized by the shooter. That had to be John Harrison. There was no other explanation. "Lieutenant Commander!" One of the red shirts called to her.

She finally broke out of her gaze, and ran out of the ship, knowing the only thing she could do was help Uhura. When her and the red shirt ran out together, Luna hit as many Klingons as she could, and the shooter kept firing, but he didn't even try to hit one of them. The last surviving Klingons tried to escape in one of their ships, but the shooter took them down with complete ease.

Luna began to hurry down one of aisles, but a Klingon came out of nowhere, and grabbed her gun. Luna let out a grunt as she fought back, but the Klingon sent her on her back. Luna tried to scramble back, but she just didn't have the room. That's when a shot grew in the middle of its chest. When the Klingon fell, she saw Jim was her savior. She got up and hurried to hug him. When she leaned down to pick up her gun, Jim still wouldn't let go of her.

They ran out of the aisle with their arms wrapped around each other. Jim aimed his gun at the shooter, but they were both tackled down by another Klingon. It slammed Jim's face into the ground, but that gave Luna the perfect chance to kick it in the face. Once it was dazed from the kick, she moved forward and stabbed it in the chest.

Another Klingon came from behind Luna and kicked her in the face, sending her back down on Jim. The Klingon tried to go for her again, so Jim rolled her over so Jim would get whatever hit Luna was meant to get, but the shooter got both of the Klingons advancing towards them. They were both so confused. Why was he helping them? He just tried to kill everyone at the Starfleet base, and now, he was saving them.

Spock and Uhura hurried to help them up and move them out of the line of fire. Once they were safe, they continued to watch the shooter, noticing how expertly he was going from one gun to the other. That's when he removed his cloak, confirming Luna's suspicions. He didn't stop until he had killed all of the Klingons, and then pointed his gun to move toward the four. Spock stood up with his gun pointed at him as Jim, Luna, and Uhura stood up to defend themselves as well.

"Stand down." Spock threatened in a steely voice.

"How many torpedoes?" He asked in a threatening voice.

"Stand down!" Spock shouted again, but this time, John Harrison shot the gun out of Spock's hands. They all jumped and looked to the discarded gun.

"The torpedoes," John Harrison shouted again, making them all look back to him in fear. "The weapons you threatened me with in your message! How many are there?!"

A moment passed before Luna was finally the one to answer with a shaky voice. "Seventy-two."

His eyes locked with her, and Jim looked back and forth between the two, scared for what he was going to do to her. Jim prepared himself to jump in front of her if he shot in her direction. "I surrender." John Harrison finally spoke before throwing his gun to the side.

Spock brought his gun back up to him as Jim began moving towards him with a slow pace. "On behalf of Christopher Pike, my friend, I accept your surrender." Jim turned to look at Luna, wanting to go back to her, but there was still that anger bubbling at the surface. He turned around and delivered a right hook into his face. Luna jumped, but Harrison didn't even flinch.

Jim continued to punch him in the face, but it didn't even affect Harrison. Jim then moved to punching him in the gut, but still, there was no reaction. Jim was going wild throwing out various blows, and he was seeming to hurt himself more than Harrison. Jim took a slight break and began to breathe heavily, making Luna's chest tighten, but Jim just kept going.

"Captain!" Luna finally yelled, but it was like Jim didn't even hear her. He just kept going. "JIM!"

That's when Jim stopped. He continued to stare at Harrison, trying to regain his breath. "Captain." Harrison whispered out with a wicked smile on his face. "Captain James T. Kirk."

They continued to stare at each other, but Luna had enough of him. She hurried to Jim, wrapping her arm around his shoulders, and pulling him away, but she wasn't going to stop staring at Harrison. "Cuff him." She growled out before pulling Jim away from the scene.

Uhura and Spock continued to stare at John Harrison, noticing his wicked smile never fading. He wore it proudly like a badge of honor. Spock didn't dare move his gun from Harrison's direction for fear that he would try something else.

 _ **MisfitCarter: Instead of a kick to the nuts we can settle on a slap to the face! Also, same about Carol when she showed up in the movie. My best friend was so annoyed with me when I freaked out, but I couldn't help it haha. Thank you so much for your review, love!**_

 ** _Love. Fiction. 2017: Thank you, love! I hope you liked this chapter too!_**

 ** _I am sorry it took me forever and a day for me to upload, but college is an absolute bitch sometimes. I've just been writing here and there when I got a chance, but yesterday I wrote like a mad woman, and good god, I've missed it so much. And I've missed this story, and all of you! I hope you all like this chapter, and hopefully I'll get some more time to write soon! Remember to review!_**


	7. Still

A group of red shirts guided John Harrison through the ship, and Luna made sure to keep a close watch on him even if she was behind all the red shirts. She didn't know what it was about him, but there was something off. There was something way more devious about him than it had seemed. And he had agreed to imprisonment so quickly. Something was off. Something was very, very off.

"Bones," Luna stopped walking as everyone else did, but she kept watching after the group, even getting up on her tiptoes to try to see better. "Meet me in the brig."

"Be right there."

Luna turned to look at Jim, taking a deep gulp before opening her mouth to talk to him. That was when he turned to Uhura, and Luna seemed to shrink down. "Lieutenant."

Uhura looked over at Luna for a split second before turning her eyes back to Jim. "Yes, sir.

"Contact Starfleet and let them know we have Harrison in custody." Luna sighed, finding that he was going back into the old pattern of the last few days. "And that we'll be on our way once the warp core is repaired."

"Yes, sir." Uhura reported with a nod.

Jim then turned to Luna, grabbing her hand, and leading her to their room so they could change. Luna didn't know if she wanted to say anything at the moment. If he was going back to his normal pattern, this was just putting the leaving thought back in her mind. It wouldn't be the first time she left Jim.

When they got to their room, Jim held the door open for her. Once she was inside, and Jim shut the door, Luna felt like she was finally able to talk to him. Although, when he turned around, he leaned down to bury his head in her chest. Luna was stunned for a moment, not sure what to do as he nuzzled his head right on her heart. She could hear small sniffles from him, and all Luna could do was hold onto his head and begin to run her fingers through his hair. "Hey," She whispered lightly to him. "Are you okay?"

Jim let out a few soft sniffles before finally speaking. "I just can't lose you too." Luna took a deep gulp, feeling her mouth get dry as her eyes began to water, and she felt a deep guilt in her gut. "I know I'm an asshole, and I know I don't deserve you, but I can't lose you."

Luna grabbed his cheeks with her hands and began to bring his face up, so he could stand up straight. "You're never going to lose me." She whispered to Jim, feeling a tear fall down her cheek. With her thumbs, she slowly began to rub the tears off of his face, kicking herself for thinking back to that thought. "Turns out you're stuck with me, Jim Kirk."

Jim let out a tearful laugh before letting out one last sniff. "Thank you."

Luna furrowed her eyebrows at what he had said, not really understanding the statement. "For what?"

"For standing by me." There it was again. That sharp pinch of guilt in her stomach. "Through everything." Luna stared at him for a moment, knowing she couldn't tell him. If she told him right now, it would hurt too much.

Luna simply placed one of her hands on the back of his neck, and then pulled him into her for a soft kiss. All she could do was try to forget the past few days and move on with their relationship. If he could just remain this way, it can all get better.

* * *

Jim and Luna held hands as they walked down the hallway with Bones and Spock following closely behind them. Each of their uniforms looked as pristine as possible, and other than the small scars on Jim's face, their faces looked completely clean. "Why the hell did he surrender?" Bones asked after they had filled him in on what happened.

"I don't know." Jim almost whispered as he just looked forward as they walked. "But he just took out a squad of Klingons single-handedly. I want to know how."

"Sounds like we have a superman on board." Bones told him with a shrug, finding himself getting nervous about meeting this guy.

Luna nodded before turning around to look at her father. "Yeah, that's what _you're_ going to tell us."

Bones stopped walking as everyone else continued walking to the holding cell. "You know, I really hate this job."

When Bones finally caught up to them, Jim walked in first, followed by Spock, then Luna, then Bones. All of the red shirts continued to stand at attention with their eyes trained on John Harrison in his glass box.

Bones shared a quick, worried glance with Luna before moving forward as her, Jim, and Spock got into a line of rank.

Bones was able to get a hole put into the cell, and Harrison looked at it curiously. "Put your arm through the hole. I'm gonna take a blood sample."

He did as Bones said, and each of them watched him intently. When the needle poked through his skin, he didn't even flinch. His eyes slowly went up to Jim's face, and he was giving him a cold stare. "Why aren't we moving, Captain?" He gave them all a moment to think about what he said before answering his own question. "An unexpected malfunction, perhaps in your warp core conveniently stranding you on the edge of Klingon space?"

Bones' head popped up to his, his eyes wild with confusion. "How the hell do you know that?"

"Bones." Jim spoke in a warning tone, basically telling him to keep his mouth shut.

"I think you'd find my insight valuable, Captain." Luna stared at him, stiffening. When he said insight, he looked right at her. Did he know that she was planning to leave Jim a few days ago? No, there was no way. He wasn't a mind reader.

"We good?" Jim asked Bones, taking Luna out of her thoughts, and putting her back to what was going on around her.

"Yeah." Bones spoke while getting rid of the hole and beginning to step backwards, but still continuing to stare at John Harrison.

They each began to turn around, Jim giving Bones a small nod before saying, "Let me know what you find." And Bones began to veer off.

"Ignore me and you will get everyone on this ship killed!"

Jim, Spock, and Luna slowed to a halt after hearing that. Jim and Luna couldn't help but think those words over while Spock turned to the two to convince them otherwise. "Captain, I believe he will only attempt to manipulate you. I would not recommend engaging the prisoner further."

"Give me a minute." Jim told him with a deep breath.

"Jim," Luna spoke in a cautious tone, not wanting to tell him what to do, but also not wanting to give Harrison the chance to confuse Jim even more. "Just let it go. Last time we gave you a minute with him, you were going at him like you were going at snakes."

Jim turned to look at her with pleading eyes, knowing he had to say something to this psychopath to put him in his place. "Just one minute." He promised her. "And the 'stop using metaphors' thing from earlier included you too."

Jim turned away from her quickly as Luna stood dumbfounded. When she turned to look at what was happening, he was just charging right for the prison cell. Luna and Spock moved closer together, afraid for what was going to happen next. "Let me explain what's happening here." Jim hissed out. "You are a _criminal_. I watched you murder innocent men and women. I was authorized to _end_ you! And the only reason why you are _still_ alive is because I am allowing it. So. Shut. Your. Mouth."

"Oh, Captain," Harrison groaned out, pissing Luna off since he was mocking Jim right in front of his face. "Are you going to punch me again over and over till your arm weakens? Or go crying to your girlfriend again whose been debating on whether she should or shouldn't leave you for the past few days?" Luna's breath caught in her throat as Jim and Spock both turned their heads to her in shock. Luna felt like she couldn't breathe for a moment. Yes, she had genuinely considered this, but in these last few hours, she realized how dumb of a thought that was. But now Jim knew, and this was going to hurt him more than Harrison knew. "Clearly you want to, so tell me, why did you allow me to live?"

Jim slowly turned his attention back to Harrison, but he was still shocked from what he said about Luna. "We all make mistakes." He whispered, the sound almost inaudible.

"No." He whispered to Jim with a mischievous voice. "I surrendered to you because despite your attempt to convince me otherwise, you seem to have a conscience, Mr. Kirk. If you did not, then it would be impossible for me to convince you of the truth." Jim looked back up to him, confused about what the "truth" really was. "23-17-46-11. Coordinates not far from Earth. If you want to know why I did what I did, go and take a look."

Jim's eyes squinted, his anger bubbling to the surface again. "Give me one reason why I should listen to you."

"I can give you seventy-two." For the first time in a while, his face looked completely serious, there was no sarcasm or deviousness. It was like when he heard the number of the torpedoes before they arrested him. "And they're on board your ship, Captain. They have been all along. I suggest you open one up."

Jim stood there for a minute more before turning around and beginning to walk to the door. He didn't even look at Luna, he just continued to walk straight forward. As he was passing Luna, she tried to step forward, but he simply brushed past her. "Jim." She whispered out once he got to the door. Jim paused for a moment as Spock looked back and forth between the two, wondering what was going to happen.

Jim could feel the water resting on the brim of his eyes. He wanted to run to her and kiss her, but he also wanted to yell at her. He took a deep breath before continuing out the door, and out the hallway, all the way to his room.

Spock turned to look at Luna, noticing a tear fall down her cheek. He stepped forward slightly before speaking. "Ms. McCoy if you want – "

"Thank you, Mr. Spock, but I would prefer to be alone right now."

Spock stood there for a moment more, wishing he could do something, but he was going to respect what she wanted. "As you wish." He nodded to her before walking out the door.

In the room, it was now only Luna and Harrison. There was a stillness in the air until Harrison spoke. "What?" He asked as innocently as he could, making Luna pick her head up, but still not facing him. "Did I say something he didn't know?"

Luna felt herself beginning to shake with rage before turning around and storming up to the glass. "You know, I wouldn't be so smug when you're going to be tried for killing people. At Starfleet, we don't take that likely. And I am a witness, and I will personally make sure you pay for your actions."

"Oh, come on, what is it?" He baited her, studying her eyes as intently as possible. "Did one of you cheat? Did you get into an argument? Something someone said?" Luna was just staring him down, completely annoyed and unsure why she let him continue. That's when he tilted his head like he thought of something he hadn't considered before. "Something someone didn't say?" Luna wasn't sure what she did, but she had given it away, she could tell by how bright his face got. "That's it. Someone isn't ready to say, 'I love you' yet."

Luna wiped all emotion off of her face in an instant before moving closer to the glass. "Enjoy your few hours alive while trapped in this cell." She gave him a smug face while looking him over one last time. "Starfleet kills murders."

She then turned around, her ponytail flipped back, and her slightly heeled boots clacked across the tile floor. He watched as she walked off, wondering what more damage he could do around here.

* * *

Scotty sat in one of the clubs near the port with Keenser on his…okay, he couldn't remember what drink this was, all he knew was that it was a lot. "You know what really bothers me, though?" Keenser just continued to stare at Scotty before he let out a loud burp. "It's the modifications, you know, the enhancements. Right? And then like that," He snapped his fingers, getting annoyed with the situation all over again. "I'm off the ship! Just for trying to do what's right!" He began pounding his fists, sure the alcohol was taking over. That's when he turned back to Keenser again. "And what did you do anyway? You just stood there like an oyster, looking at me!" And Keenser continued to look at him like that. Scotty's communicator began to chirp, and when he picked it up, he screamed, "What?!"

Jim began to blink a couple of times at how angry he sounded. "Scotty, it's Kirk."

"Oh, well now!" Scotty began to point at the communicator excitedly, signaling to Keenser to listen. "If it isn't Captain James Tiberius Perfect Hair!" Jim could hear pounding music in the background, making his eyebrows furrow. "Did you hear that? I called him Perfect Hair."

"Where are you?"

"Where are _you_?"

Jim's eyebrows just got closer together at that, putting two and two together. It was rarely, but he had seen Scotty drunk a time or two. "Are you drunk?"

Scotty finished off his glass before turning back to his communicator. "What I do in my private time is my business, Jimbo."

Jim sighed before going on with what he needed to talk about. "I need you to help me out with something. Will you take these coordinates down? 23-17-46-11." There was a pause, concerning Jim. "Are you writing?"

"What," Scotty sighed, annoyed with him thinking that little of him. "You don't think I can remember four numbers?" He let out a hardy laugh before talking again. "Ye of little faith." That's when Scotty realized, he couldn't think of one of the numbers. "What was the third one?"

"Forty-six." Jim answered slowly. "I don't know exactly what you're looking for, but I have a feeling you'll know it when you see it. You may have been right about those torpedoes." He let a pause pass before speaking again. "And when you were talking about Luna, you meant about her considering ending things with me right?"

Scotty sighed, even though he was mad at him, he still felt sympathy about their relationship. "I take it you found out."

"Yeah, in an unfavorable way." He let another pause pass before finally speaking again. "I should have listened to you better."

Scotty looked shocked, but he was going to take it. "I will consider that an apology. And I will consider that apology."

Jim smiled, really missing having Scotty on board. "You are the one who quit."

That made Scotty mad all over again. "You made me quit!" He shut the communicator quickly before ordering another drink.

"Mr. Scott?" Jim tried, but he knew it was pointless. "Scott." He sighed out before grumbling, shutting the communicator, and walking off.

Scotty shook his head, taking the first sip of his new drink. "The nerve of that guy!" Keenser continued to look at him, knowing they had to help in some way. "I am not doing that man any favors!" He continued his stare, Scotty finally noticing it. "No!" Keenser wasn't going to break his stare. He knew they had to help the crew. Scotty finally sighed while picking up the check. "All right, then!"

* * *

Jim and Luna ended up almost running into each other when going to the elevator. They just stared at each other blankly, neither of them knowing what to say. Jim finally took a short step back before gesturing to the elevator with a polite smile. "After you."

Luna gulped, really wishing they could just step back for a moment before Harrison told Jim. Back when they were getting better. Now, it just felt like they were right back where they started with this problem. It was like they were stuck in a circle, the same problem repeating over and over again. No matter how hard they tried, they just weren't able to move past this. And Luna began to think…maybe that was a sign. "Thank you, Captain." She told him with a gracious nod before walking into the elevator, and Jim quickly following her.

Once the elevator doors closed, they began to ascend to the bridge. The two tried to look everywhere but at each other, making it extremely awkward for them both. Luna finally sighed, knowing someone had to talk about this. "You know, you were being a dick for the past few days."

"Yeah," Jim sighed out, still deciding not to look at her. "You know, I just thought that you would stand by me no matter what since that's what you told me earlier today." Luna was beginning to feel anger rise up into her chest as Jim continued to talk. "But I guess you were just lying to me."

"Oh," Luna spun around to look at him, not being able to take this anymore. "Do not make me out to be the bad guy right now. I was thinking about what was best for you and me, and if a break is what we needed, then don't get mad at me for seeing that first."

"And why would you do that?" Jim's condescending tone was getting on Luna's last nerves. "Because you love me?"

"Yes." Luna didn't even blink, and the elevator seemed to go still after she said that. Even Luna was shocked. They each knew it, but no one else would say it. "But you see, Jim, it's always going to come down to this moment because you're too scared to say those words." Luna gulped deeply, knowing if they took the conversation this far, she couldn't hold back the rest of her thoughts. "I will always love you more than you love me because at least I have the courage to say it out loud."

The elevator then stopped, so Luna turned around, fighting back all of her tears, so when the doors opened, she would go right to her spot. Jim just stared at the back of her head, continually thinking to himself, 'come back' 'come back to me' 'turn around and come back to me'. She didn't though. And Jim wanted to scream those words to her. 'Come back' 'come back'. But all he could continue to do was stare at her. When he opened his mouth, he expected those words to come flooding out of his mouth…but they didn't. The only word he could whisper was, "Luna."

He could see the tenseness of her shoulders as he said her name, but right when the doors opened, she simply walked out. Jim continued to stand there for a moment, looking down in thought of something he could do differently. He shouldn't have said anything. He should have never said anything to her about any of this.

Jim slowly walked out of the elevator, but when he got on the bridge, Bones was standing close by. "Good god what happened to the two of you now?"

Jim shook his head while keeping up his slow pace before answering. "Drop it." Bones was about to ask him more questions before Jim turned to the rest of the crew. "Can I please have all my Lieutenant Commanders to the work board please and thank you?"

Luna got up from her seat, but whizzed right past Jim, taking a stand in between Bones and Spock around the board, leaving Jim with the head of it. Jim began to explain what he had learned from Harrison, and after he explained to them what he wanted to do, he let the silence fall over the three for a second. "Are you out of your corn-fed mind?" Bones shouted out, breaking the silence. Honestly, Jim shouldn't have expected anything less. "You're not _actually_ going to listen to this guy?" When Jim didn't say anything, he began to get angrier. "He killed Pike, he almost killed you, and now you think it's a good idea to pop open a torpedo because he dared you to."

Jim's eyes drifted to Bones, trying to see if there was some way he could get him to understand. "Why did he save our lives, Bones?"

Luna opened her mouth, about to scold Jim the same way Bones did when Spock began speaking. "The Doctor does have a point, Captain."

Luna turned to look at him with a confused glance. What the hell was going on? Bones and Spock _never_ agreed. "Don't agree with me, Spock. It makes me very uncomfortable."

"Perhaps you, too, should learn to govern your emotions, Doctor."

"Spock." Luna spoke in a warning tone, knowing that if things were to escalate it wouldn't get pretty. It never got pretty.

"In this situation, logic dictates – "

"Logic?!" Bones screamed out.

"Dad!" Luna yelled, realizing there were people turning around to look at the argument.

"Oh, my God! There's a maniac trying to make us blow up our own damn ship and – "

"That's not it!" Jim finally interjected, silencing both of them. Luna turned to Jim, wondering what he was going to do now. "I don't know _why_ he surrendered, but that's not it." Jim began to pace in front of the three with his thinking look on. "Look, we're gonna open a torpedo. The question is how."

"Jim," Luna began, almost in a laugh at this suicide mission he was planning. "Without Mr. Scott on board, who exactly _is_ qualified to just pop open a four-ton stick of dynamite? Look, I love playing with weapons, but I am _far_ from an expert."

"The Admiral's daughter appeared to have interest in the torpedoes and she is a weapons specialist." Everyone slowly turned to look at Spock, not understanding who he was talking about. "Perhaps she could be of some use."

Jim turned around to look at them, wondering if he was missing something. But Bones and Luna looked just as confused as he did. "What Admiral's daughter?"

"Carol Marcus." Spock said obviously with a shrug. Luna's eyes got wide as she turned to look at her father who just stood there with a dumbfounded look on his face. "Your new science officer concealed her identity to board the ship."

Luna turned to look at Spock while she had a hand placed on her father's arm, knowing that he must have been in shock. "When were you going to tell us that?!"

"When it became relevant." Spock spoke with a shrug. Jim and Luna both turned to look at each other with a huff at his answer. "As it just did."

 _ **MisfitCarter: Aw that's so cute! She was like what the hell mom lol! And yes, I love that scene with Sulu. And Bones' comments kill me all the time. He's my favorite character in the whole series. I will try to kick my college's ass lol (I'm actually using their wifi right now to upload so that's probably not the best thing to say right now. Sorry college, I love you)**_

 _ **Love. Fiction. 2018: Thank you so much, love! I'm glad you liked it!**_

 _ **Alright, it took me so long to edit this chapter, and I'm sorry about that guys! Every time I sat down to edit it was like here's something new for you to do. But I hope you like this chapter, and then we're gonna get to the real fun action stuff next! I'm so excited! Remember to review, and I'll see you next time!**_


	8. Khan

Jim, Luna, and Bones hurried after Carol, Bones going the fastest trying to do anything he could to catch her attention. Even though it wasn't their normal position, Jim and Luna took a back seat when it came to Carol. Bones had to figure his feelings out after he found out she was lying, and Carol needed to give him an apology, but just not right now. They had torpedoes to figure out.

"Are the torpedoes in the weapons bay?" Carol asked while turning back to Jim and Luna, knowing they would have more knowledge about that.

"Loaded and ready to fire." Luna responded.

Jim moved up a little bit so him and Luna were both side to side, making it slightly awkward. "What are they?"

"I don't know." Carol scoffed. "That's why I forged my transfer onto your ship. To find out why." She suddenly turned around to look at each of them, but mostly Bones. "I do apologize for that. By the way, if I caused you any problems, I am sorry." She fixed her eyes on Bones, giving him a small smile he felt like he could just melt into. "I'm Carol Marcus."

Bones let out a deep sigh. He hated being lied to, but with her, he could kind of see why she would do it. He looked down at her outstretched hand as Jim and Luna watched intensely, trying to gage what was going to happen next. Bones finally took her hand, offering her a small smile. "Leonard McCoy."

The two smiled at each other for a long moment before Luna coughed intentionally to get back on topic. "Torpedoes." Carol spoke quickly while turning around as Bones' hand was placed on the small of her back, guiding her to the engineering deck. Jim and Luna both shared an impressed look at that. "My father gave me access to every program he oversaw, then I heard he was developing these prototype torpedoes." Carol began to lead them to one of the shuttles they had arrived on, confusing Jim. "When I went to confront him about it, he wouldn't even see me. That's when I discovered the torpedoes had disappeared from all official records."

She began to climb up the steps of the shuttle with Bones following, but before Jim could follow, Luna put a hand in front of his chest to stop him from walking. "And then he gave them to the Enterprise."

"You're much cleverer than your reputation suggests, Doctor."

Jim turned to look at Luna once the two were alone in the shuttle. "What are you doing?"

Luna put her hand out, trying to get him to go along with her. "Let's just see how this plays out between them."

Jim looked up at the inside of the shuttle. "Of course, we break up, and then your dad finds someone." He began to walk away from the shuttle in a huff, confusing Luna.

She blinked a couple of times before turning around to look at him. "We didn't break up."

Jim sat down on the steps of another shuttle while looking up at her with a confused face. "We're not?"

"No." Luna scoffed while moving closer to him. "I mean, you're a pussy, but I still…"

"Love me?" Jim suggested as she trailed off.

"Well," Luna began with a playful glance on her face before sitting a few steps under him. "Don't go putting words in my mouth."

Jim laughed as Luna's head was tilted up, giving him the perfect angle of her lips. He looked down at them before looking back into her deep brown eyes. "Luna," Jim began slowly, knowing too much had happened to keep it from her any longer. "I lo – "

"Guys!"

Jim broke away from her, angry at Bones' voice interrupting the two. "What?!"

"There's a nearby planet we can test the torpedo on." Carol told them excitedly while coming out of the shuttle.

Luna jumped up just as Bones and Carol made it to them. "How quick can we get there?"

Jim was still sitting in his spot, looking back and forth at Luna, and where she was sitting just before they were interrupted. "But what about – "

"More important matters, Jim." Luna laughed out before turning back to Bones and Carol, quickly discussing with them the plan.

Jim just blinked, hardly able to believe that this was the same girl a minute ago who was ready to say, "I love you" at the blink of an eye. "What the hell?" He whispered under his breath. Was this a parallel universe they transferred to? Did Luna somehow lose her mind?

"Come on, Captain." Luna told him while grabbing his hand and pulling him up to stand. "Business first, playtime later."

Bones and Carol turned to look at each other with a confused look before turning back to Jim and Luna. "Did we interrupt something?"

"Yes." Jim grumbled as Luna shrugged and responded with, "no," before pulling him to get back to the bridge.

* * *

"Captain on the bridge!" Sulu announced as Jim counted to drag his feet behind Luna.

Luna rolled her eyes at the sound of him before hurrying to Sulu. "Mr. Sulu, have Doctors Marcus and McCoy landed on the planetoid yet?" Luna asked while glancing over at Jim, realizing he was going to sulk all the way to the windshield on the far right of the bridge.

"Yes, ma'am." Sulu answered while looking up at her, and then to Jim. "They're moving the torpedo into position now."

Jim turned around with a thinking look on his face. "Any activity from the Klingons?"

"Not yet." Sulu looked back down at the control panel while taking a deep breath, knowing what would happen if the Klingons did find them. "But if we're stuck here much longer, they will find us."

Jim nodded, the fear running through his mind too before moving his glance to Uhura who was standing near the captain's chair. "Lieutenant Uhura, did you let Starfleet know we have Harrison in custody?"

"Yes, sir." She let out an exasperated sigh before answering what she knew was going to be his next question. "No response yet."

Jim gave her a confused glance before giving that same look to Luna. Jim took a step towards her before Chekov came through the speaker. "Engineering to bridge. Hello. Captain, can you hear me?"

Jim gave Luna that we'll-talk-later look before moving to his chair. "Mr. Chekov," Jim announced as he sat down. "Give me some good news."

"We found the leak, sir, but the damage is substantial." Luna had her arms crossed in front of her chest while she stood near her chair and listened with a quizzical look on her face. "We're working on it."

"Any idea what caused it?" Luna asked loud enough so she would be heard by Chekov.

"No, ma'am." He answered quickly. "But I accept full responsibility."

Jim was looking down in thought while shaking his head. "Something tells me it wasn't your fault. Stay on it."

"Shuttle is standing by, Captain." Sulu announced as Luna sat in her seat. When she looked to her right, she was sad that Chekov wasn't there. She missed her usual team, but she wasn't going to reject the help.

Jim changed his intercom to connect to the shuttle, getting a little smile on his face at the thought of putting Bones and Carol on the same mission. "Bones, thanks for helping out. Dr. Marcus asked for the steadiest hands on the ship."

"You know," Bones scoffed while carrying the equipment off the ship. "When I dreamt about being stuck on a deserted planet with a gorgeous woman," He winked at Carol, making her blush slightly. "There was no torpedo!"

Okay, Luna wanted her father and Carol to end up together as much as anyone else, but this was getting weird. She felt like there were some things fathers and daughters should never know about each other, and she never wanted to hear what it was like when her father flirted. She went to her own intercom, taking a deep breath before speaking. "Dr. McCoy, may I remind you, you are not there to _flirt_."

"So how can these legendary hands help you, Dr. Marcus?" Luna shut her eyes, knowing that could be taken so many ways. And the ways she was thinking was not what she wanted to imagine. Ever.

"Bones!" Jim sighed out, becoming uncomfortable with the situation as well.

Carol turned to Bones with a smile as he was carrying down equipment for her. "To understand how powerful these weapons are, we need to open the warhead. To do that, we need to access the fuel compartment. Unfortunately for us, the warheads on these weapons are live."

"Sweetheart," Bones sighed out, finally finding the perfect place to set down the equipment. "I once performed an emergency C-section on a pregnant Gorn. Octuplets. And let me tell you, those little bastards bite." Luna began to shake her head from the ship, not finding how any of this was flirting anymore. "I think I can work some magic on your missile." Bones gave her a little wink, making Carol giggle. Jim and Luna looked to each other as a shiver ran down both of their spines. They really thought they wanted this too.

"Dr. McCoy," Carol spoke to him through a smile. "There's a bundle of fiber optic cables against the inner casing. You'll need to cut the twenty-third wire down. Whatever you do, do not touch anything else. Do you understand?"

"Right." Bones scoffed while beginning to stick his pliers into the torpedo. "The thought never crossed my mind."

"Leonard," Carol spoke in a warning tone. If that didn't make Luna want to barf, she didn't know what would. "Wait for my word. I'm rerouting the detonation processor." She finally turned to look back at him, giving him a nervous once over. "Are you ready?"

"And raring."

"Good luck." She told him with a nod. Right when Bones put his hand in, the torpedo sucked his arm into it.

"Sir," Sulu spoke as Luna's ears became hyperaware, trying to find any little sound that would assure her of her father's safety. "The torpedo just armed itself."

"The warhead's gonna detonate in thirty seconds, sir!" The woman who replaced Chekov yelled out.

"What the hell happened?" Bones screamed out while Carol hurried to try to disarm the torpedo before it could go off with his arm in it. "I can't get my arm out!"

"Target their signal!" Luna yelled while standing up from her seat. "Beam them back right now!"

"The transporter cannot differentiate between Dr. McCoy and the torpedo." Luna quickly turned around to see Spock standing with the same fear across everyone else's faces. "We cannot beam back one without the other."

"Dr. Marcus," Jim began, feeling the fear and anxiety spread through his chest. "Can you disarm it?"

"I'm trying." She announced as she continued to work. "I'm trying."

"Jim," Bones sighed out like he was giving up. "Get her the hell out of here!"

"No!" Carol and Luna spoke as one. That's when Jim stood up, and moved forward, directly behind Luna to be the instant comfort she would need if something went wrong. "If you beam me back, he dies! Just let me do it!"

"Ten." Bones began counting off, his eyes fixed on the timer. "Nine. Eight."

"Standing by to transport Dr. Marcus on your command, sir." Sulu announced. Both Luna and Jim looked down at him, and then back up to the windshield again.

"Four. Three."

"Shit!" Carol finally cursed before just ripping out the charge in it. They both fell back as the torpedo opened up with only two seconds left to spare.

Jim and Luna both let out a long, relieved sigh as she fell into Jim's chest. Jim shut his eyes while petting her hair, and Luna just took deep breaths into his chest, trying to calm herself down. "Deactivation successful, Captain." Sulu reported.

Jim moved one of his hands from Luna's body to press the button to Bones' radio. "Dr. McCoy, are you all right?" After there was no response, he was starting to get worried all over again. "Bones!"

"Jim?" Bones called out, making Luna pick her head up from Jim's chest. She knew that voice. And she knew something was serious. "You're going to want to see this."

* * *

Jim hurried into the med bay while Luna and Spock followed him. "What have we got?"

"It's quite clever actually." Carol told them while her and Bones both surveyed around the body. Luna raised her eyebrows, surprised that this was the first thing they decided to do after almost blowing up on an isolated planet. "This fuel container has been removed from the torpedo and retrofitted to hide this cryo tube."

Luna began to look the torpedo over, Jim staying close to her as she looked up at her father with a puzzled face. "Is he alive?"

"He's alive." Bones sighed, still looking down at the body, wondering how he was going to explain this to them. "But if we try to revive him without the proper sequencing, it could kill him. This technology's beyond me."

Spock paused for a moment before turning to look at Bones to his right. "How advanced, Doctor?"

"It's not advanced." Carol jumped in, causing each of them to turn their heads. "That cryo tube is ancient."

"We haven't needed to freeze anyone since we developed warp capability," Bones pointed at both Jim and Luna as they stood there, fully attentive. "Which explains the most interesting thing about our friend here. He's 300 years old."

Jim, Spock, and Luna's eyes widened as they looked back and forth at each other. Luna's eyes then fell on the cryo tube again, slowly backing up as she looked at him. If this man was three-hundred years old, then that made John Harrison a lot more interesting. "We need to talk to Harrison." She told Jim quickly before the three began to pile out of the medical bay.

* * *

Jim stormed up right to John Harrison's window as Luna and Spock stood more off to the side, but still watching everything carefully. Jim stared at him for a moment, but Harrison would not match Jim's eye. "Why is there a man in that torpedo?"

"There are men and women in all those torpedoes, Captain. I put them there."

Jim, Spock, and Luna shared another gaze. Luna took a deep breath while stepping forward, fighting with every part of her body not to shake from fear. "Who the _hell_ are you?" Jim didn't take his eyes off of her until she was right next to him. When he turned back to Harrison, he still wasn't looking directly at any of them, he was just looking off into the empty space.

"A remnant of a time long past." He finally looked to the two, and they just continued to stare down John Harrison. "Genetically engineered to be superior so as to lead others to peace in a world at war. But we were condemned as criminals, forced into exile. For centuries we slept," He slowly turned to look at Spock while thinking of the next part of the story. "Hoping when we awoke, things would be different. But as a result of the destruction of Vulcan, your Starfleet began to aggressively search distant quadrants of space. My ship was found adrift. I alone was revived."

"I looked up 'John Harrison'." Jim decided to speak, making Luna jump slightly since she was so focused in on his story. "Until a year ago, he didn't exist."

He immediately stood up and began to slowly move towards the window as he spoke. "John Harrison was a fiction created the moment I was awoken by your Admiral Marcus to help him advance his cause. A smokescreen to conceal my true identity." He was as close as he could comfortably get as he stared at Jim and Luna standing in front of him, his glare deepening. "My name is Khan."

There was a long pause until Jim asked, "Why would a Starfleet Admiral ask a three-hundred-year-old frozen man for help?"

"Because I am…better."

"At what?" Luna asked while shrugging, trying to make it look like he was phasing her, but this man was freaking her out.

"Everything." His head straightened out before speaking again. "Alexander Marcus needed to respond to an uncivilized threat in a civilized time and for that he needed a warrior's mind. My mind. To design weapons and warships."

"You are suggesting the Admiral violated every regulation he vowed to uphold simply because he wanted to exploit your intellect." Jim and Luna both turned to Spock as he spoke.

"He wanted to exploit my _savagery_." Khan spoke as he stepped towards Spock, giving him an insane look. "Intellect alone is useless in a fight, Mr. Spock. You... You can't even break a rule. How would you be expected to break bone?" He offered Spock a little smile before turning to look back to Jim and Luna. "Marcus used me to design weapons. To help him realize his vision of a militarized Starfleet. He sent you to use those weapons. To fire my torpedoes on an unsuspecting planet." Luna didn't want to believe it, but how could she fight him on this? She didn't trust Marcus, and she definitely didn't trust Khan. "And then he purposely crippled your ship in enemy space, leading to one inevitable outcome. The Klingons would come searching for whomever was responsible, and you would have no chance of escape. Marcus would finally have the war he talked about. The war he always wanted."

"No." Jim whispered before turning away from Khan while shaking his head. "No." Jim got even closer to the window while staring him down. Luna just continued to stand there, trying to process what he had said. "I watched you open fire in a room full of unarmed Starfleet officers. You killed them in cold blood!"

Khan shook his head before turning away from Jim with a scoff. "Marcus took my crew from me."

"You are a murderer!" Jim sounded more like he was trying to convince himself at this point.

"He used my friends to control me." Khan's back was to them as Jim was now next to Spock, and Luna was making her way toward them. "I tried to smuggle them to safety by concealing them in the very weapons I had designed, but I was discovered." His eyes were red as he spoke, and tears were threatening to fall down his face. Luna could see it in his shoulders that he was upset, but Khan wasn't going to let them see him shed a few tears. "I had no choice but to escape alone. And when I did, I had every reason to suspect that Marcus had killed every single one of the people I hold most dear. So, I responded in kind." When he turned back to them, his tear was rolling off of his chin. "My crew is my family, Kirk. Is there anything you would not do for your family?"

They each continued to stand there, looking at each other. Jim slightly moved his hand behind him to move it closer to her. Luna looked down at his hand, slipping her hand into his, and giving it a tight squeeze. "Proximity alert, sir!" They all jumped before looking behind them at where the intercom was positioned. When jumping, Jim and Luna had parted so Khan could see their interlocked hands. He stared at their hands like an idea was hatching. "There's a ship at warp heading right for us."

"Klingons?" Jim asked, trying to calm his heart.

"At warp?" Khan questioned, making them all turn to him with wide eyes. "No, Kirk. We both know who it is."

"I don't think so." Sulu immediately reported back through the intercom. "It's not coming at us from Kronos."

Jim just stared at Khan for a few more moments, what he was saying really making sense for the first time since he had met him. Jim slowly began to back up, tugging on Luna's hand to make sure she followed as he began to run to the bridge. "Lieutenant, move Khan to med bay." Jim commanded to the man in charge of the area. "Post six security officers on him."

"Yes, Captain!" The lieutenant yelled back as the three hurried to the bridge before Marcus could do anything to their ship.

 _ **MisfitCarter: Karl Urban is the best. Ugh, him as Skurg in Ragnarok melted my heart, and of course he's also amazing as Bones. And yes, Jim is being a little cry baby, but he finally gets better in this chapter. It's funny I'm actually studying English in Secondary Education! I know some schools offer Fine Arts Education degrees because my school just implemented it. Let me know if you have any college questions. You can message me anytime and I can help you out if you need it.**_

 _ **Love. Fiction. 2018: He really does lol. Thank you, love!**_

 _ **blue-lily295: I love Scotty so much *screams*. Thank you so much, I can't wait for you to read the rest of it!**_

 _ **Rebootfan: Yay! I'm so happy you're here and you're graduating! Woot Woot! I'm so happy for you! Glad you're back, love!**_

 _ **Since anyone in the Marvel family is hurting right now (like me) I thought this would be a good time to post and get our minds off of things. Classes are also winding down so I was finally able to finish a chapter! I should become more active. My last final is on Tuesday so yeet. I hope you all enjoyed this chapter and remember to review!**_


	9. A Touch of Evil

Jim, Spock, and Luna ran into the bridge, each of them going straight for their spots, knowing that what was about to happen was going to be crucial. "ETA the incoming ship." Jim immediately commanded as he prepared himself in the captain's chair.

"Three seconds, sir." Sulu responded as Luna immediately began to put all of their shields up and prepare any weapons she could without being too obvious.

"Shields." Jim commanded.

"Trust me, Captain," Luna began while her fingers danced across her control panel. "I am way ahead of you."

The tension just continued to build up in the bridge during those three seconds, and when the ship finally appeared, at least ten times its size, the Enterprise was deathly quiet. The two ships were face to face in what seemed to be a stare off. Luna and Sulu both turned to look at each other as Luna made a point for Sulu to see her finger rest near the launch button for most of their weapons. He gave her a concerned glance, but Luna wasn't taking any chances. She didn't care who it was, if they tried something, Luna was going to fire. "They're hailing us, sir." Uhura spoke slowly while half turning around to look at Jim.

"On screen." Jim commanded while still staring at the ship in front of him. "Broadcast shipwide, for the record."

Once the transmission came onto the screen, everyone was immediately silent at the sight of Admiral Marcus. The one hand Luna had that wasn't hovering over the trigger button was clenched into a fist at everything he had done. "Captain Kirk."

"Admiral Marcus." Jim responded with a slight smile, wanting to make it look like everything was normal. "I wasn't expecting you." Jim gave the best smile he could before shifting his tone of voice into a more interested one. "That's a hell of a ship you got there."

"And I wasn't expecting to get word that you'd taken Harrison into custody in violation of your orders."

Luna's finger inched a little closer to the button, and Sulu gave her a terrified look, not wanting this to end up in an all-out war. "Well, we..." Jim had to think of the best way he was going to call out Admiral Marcus. "We had to improvise when our warp core unexpectedly malfunctioned. But you already knew that, didn't you, sir?"

"I don't take your meaning."

"Well, that's why you're here, isn't it?" Jim asked in an innocent voice. "To assist with our repairs? Why else would the head of Starfleet personally come to the edge of the Neutral Zone?"

Then an alert ran across the flight control panel, that being the thing to make Luna take her finger away from the trigger to find out exactly what they were spying on. "Captain, they're scanning our ship." Luna responded, looking back at Jim for a moment before turning back to Admiral Marcus with a deep glare.

"Is there something I can help you find, sir?" Jim asked without a beat, continuing to look directly at the Admiral.

The Admiral paused, not showing a bit of emotion before asking, "Where is your prisoner, Kirk?"

"Per Starfleet regulation, I'm planning on returning Khan to Earth to stand trial."

Admiral Marcus sighed while rubbing his face in annoyance. "Well, shit. You talked to him." He threw his hand in the air with a deep sigh before looking back to Jim. "This is exactly what I was hoping to spare you from. I took a tactical risk and I woke that bastard up, believing that his superior intelligence could help us protect ourselves from whatever came at us next." That's when the Admiral got close, trying to make Jim see that he was in the right. "But I made a mistake. And now the blood of everybody he's killed is on my hands. So, I'm _asking_ you, give him to me so that I can end what I started."

To everyone on the Enterprise, it sounded more like a threat than a request. "And what exactly would you like me to do with the rest of his crew, sir? Fire them at the Klingons? End seventy-two lives? Start a war in the process?"

" _He_ put those people in those torpedoes." Marcus spoke again, getting angry with Jim and everyone in his crew who was standing by him. "And I simply didn't want to burden you with knowing what was inside of them." In the med bay, Carol watched intensely as her father spoke. Bones looked over at Khan, making sure he was behaving himself before walking up to Carol, and placing his hand on her shoulder for comfort. She didn't second guess his hand there at all. She simply moved hers to lay on top of his. "You saw what this man can do all by himself. Can you imagine what would happen if we woke up the rest of his crew?" Luna turned back to Jim, trying to tell him in some way that they couldn't trust Admiral Marcus here. Spock was doing the same as he was moving towards the captain's chair. "What else did he tell you? That he's a peacekeeper? He's playing you, son, don't you see that? Khan and his crew were condemned to death as war criminals. And now it is our duty to carry out that sentence before anybody else dies because of him." Jim stared at Luna for a moment, wondering how he was going to get them out of this one. "Now, I'm going to ask you again! One last time, son. Lower your shields. Tell me where he is."

"He's in engineering, sir." Jim sighed out. Luna turned around to look at what was in front of her, wondering what Jim's plan was by fibbing to Marcus. "But I'll have him moved to the transporter room right away."

"I'll take it from here."

Once Admiral Marcus had cut his transmission, Luna stood up just as Jim did, looking to Sulu before doing anything. "Do not drop those shields, Mr. Sulu."

"Aye, Commander."

She hurried to Jim after that with a panicked expression, ready to hear his plan. "Captain," Spock began as the three began to circle around each other to hear Jim's plan. "Given your awareness of Khan's true location in the med bay, may I know the details of your plan?"

"I told Marcus we were bringing a fugitive back to Earth." Jim said obviously before moving to his control panel on the captain's chair. "That's what we're going to do." He quickly pressed a button and turned his head in the mic's position. "Mr. Chekov, can we warp?"

"Sir, if we go to warp, we run the risk of seriously damaging the core!"

"Can we do it?" Jim pushed.

Chekov took a long pause before finally answering. "Technically, yes, but I would not advise it, Captain."

"Noted." Jim responded before ending the transmission and turning to look at Luna. "Ms. McCoy, can you please set a course for earth?"

"What are you planning?" She asked in an exasperated breath, becoming scared for their lives which wasn't rare when Jim gave commands like this, but still terrifying nonetheless.

He moved close to her, giving her a small kiss on the forehead as a convincing piece. "Just trust me."

She took a deep sigh, not feeling any better about all of this, but she did trust him. She quickly turned to Sulu, taking on the best commander voice she could. "Sulu? A course for earth?"

"Yes, ma'am." He answered quickly before moving to the controls.

"Punch it." Jim included with a point in his direction as Luna hurried back to his captain's chair, refusing to sit down because of her nerves.

* * *

"Well," Bones scoffed while moving back to Khan to run tests on him. "At least we're moving again." He was saying it more for Carol, but he wasn't sure if he really believed himself that this was a good thing.

Khan got a small smile on his face before looking up at them once Carol had joined Bones' side. "If you think you're safe at warp, you're wrong." He ended his stare at Carol, prompting her to run out of the med bay, knowing she had to warn Jim about her father.

* * *

"Lieutenant Uhura," Jim began once Luna had joined him. "Contact Starfleet. Tell them we were pursued into the Neutral Zone by an unmarked Federation ship."

"Comms are down, sir."

Luna turned from Uhura to Jim, opening her mouth to say something when the elevator doors opened, and Carol stood there. "Permission to come on the bridge."

Luna let out a little sigh, wishing she could actually talk to Jim for a change, but she knew there were more pressing matters at hand. "Dr. Marcus." Jim nodded, giving her the permission she needed.

Jim stood when she ran up to him, moving close to Luna so their arms were touching. "He's gonna catch up with us, and when he does, the only thing that's gonna stop him destroying this ship is me, so you have to let me talk to him."

"Carol, we're at warp." Luna began in a calming tone. "He can't catch up with us."

"Yes, he can." Carol spoke, challenging Luna's calming tone. "He's been developing a ship that has advanced warp capabilities – "

"Captain!" They all turned to look at Sulu, noticing his panicked tone which he very rarely expressed. "I'm getting a reading I don't understand."

That's when the ship was shot by Marcus'. They all fell over while another part of the ship was ripped open, taking out everyone who was in that wing. As Marcus fired again, he shot the ship out of warp, jarring everyone forward.

Luna ended up near the flight control panel, and with a large grunt, she pulled herself up while looking over at Sulu who was trying to steady himself as well. "Where are we?!" Luna growled out. She was getting so sick of Marcus' shit.

"We're 237,000 kilometers from Earth." Sulu reported intensely.

"Damage report!" Jim yelled while hurrying over to their control panel, mostly to check on Luna, but also to check on the ship.

"Weapons are way down." The woman reported as Luna tried to take control of her panel again. "Shields are dropping. We're defenseless, sir."

Right when Jim reached Luna, a lieutenant hurried up to him. "Sir, we have a bulkhead breach."

Jim sighed before turning around to another lieutenant. He wanted to take care of Luna, but he also had to take care of his crew. "Where's the damage?"

"Major hull damage, Captain."

They were shot again, damaging another wing of the ship. Everyone was thrown forward again, but this time, they were more prepared. "Evasive maneuvers! Get us to Earth! Right now!" Jim yelled to his remaining crew.

"Captain! Stop!" She yelled it loud enough for everyone on the bridge to stop moving and listen to Carol. "Everybody on this ship is going to die if you don't let me speak to him."

There was an intense moment of silence as Jim looked to everyone, not wanting any more of his crew to get hurt. He finally turned to Uhura, trying not to look like he was shaking from his fear. "Uhura, hail him."

Right when Uhura had opened up the line, Carol stood in front of the windshield, taking a deep breath before speaking. "Sir. It's me. It's Carol."

All the explosions stopped, and everyone waited anxiously as Marcus accepted the video connection, and Bones ran into the bridge, standing directly behind Carol, stopping at the tension he could feel in the room. For the first time since starting this battle with them, Admiral Marcus looked terrified. "What are you doing on that ship?"

"I heard what you said. That you made a mistake and now you're doing everything you can to fix it." Jim turned to look at Luna as she stood next to him, and she looked the same time he did. Slowly, Jim grabbed her hand tight, afraid of what was going to happen next, and Luna squeezed his hand back, sharing his same anxiety as they continued their locked eyes. "But, Dad, I don't believe that the man who raised me is capable of destroying a ship full of innocent people." They slowly turned back to the windshield, watching Marcus' face, hoping that somehow Carol was getting through to him. "And, if I'm wrong about that, then you're gonna have to do it with me on board."

A tear fell down Carol's face as she kept her stare with her father. For a moment, they thought they would be able to get out of this alive. "Actually, Carol, I won't."

Carol twitched and began to back away, a weird feeling going through her body. "Oh." When she turned around to look at the crew, that's when everyone noticed she was being beamed out of the ship. Carol looked at her fading hand before looking to Bones as he stepped forward, wanting to be there for her. "Leonard…"

Bones moved even closer to her, not sure what to do. Luna looked around at the bridge, hoping someone would be able to fix this. "Can we intercept the transport signal?"

A crew member turned around to look at her with a helpless face, knowing there was nothing that could be done. "No, ma'am."

Carol screamed as she tried to run from it, and Bones followed her, screaming out, "Carol!" It was too late. When Bones reached his hand out for her, almost touching her, she had been taken.

Everyone's eyes were still fixed on where Carol disappeared when Admiral Marcus began talking again. "Captain Kirk, without authorization and in league with the fugitive John Harrison, you went rogue in enemy territory," Jim turned around with wide eyes, realizing he was really going to kill them right here. "Leaving me no choice but to hunt you down and destroy you. Lock phasers."

"Wait, sir," Jim yelled out while hurrying up to the windshield so he could get a better look at his face.

"Jim!" Luna yelled out, scared that he was going to be stupid, but Jim ignored her, continuing to run forward.

"Wait, wait, wait!"

"I'll make this quick." Marcus said while turning around to the person in charge of weapons on his ship. "Target all aft torpedoes on the Enterprise bridge."

Spock and Uhura moved close to each other while Bones moved to Luna, beginning to drag her toward the pods, deciding that if he couldn't save Carol, he was going to save Luna. "Dad!" Luna screamed out, becoming panicked at the thought of leaving Jim and the rest of the crew.

"Sir," As Jim began to speak, Luna and Bones stop struggling, hoping that some way, they would be able to work this out. "My crew was just following my orders." Jim was shaking with fear, not caring about his own life at this point, but caring about his crew. "I-I take full responsibility for my actions. But they were _mine_ and they were _mine_ alone."

Marcus turned around to look at Jim again, Luna beginning to try to struggle out of Bones' grip so she could go down with him if it came to that. "No." She whispered as she tried to wiggle out of her father's grasp. "No."

"If I transmit Khan's location to you now, all that I ask is that you spare them." Everyone on the bridge was becoming worried for Jim's life at this point, but Jim would gladly go down with the ship if that meant everyone else was safe. Jim moved forward, his mind more concrete. "Please, sir. I'll do anything you want. Just let them live." Luna was letting out small whimpers, still trying to get free, and every terrified noise she made was like a dagger in Jim's heart.

"That's a hell of an apology." Marcus finally said before nodding, his face unchanging as he sat down in his chair. "But if it's any consolation, I was never going to spare your crew. Fire when – " The screen went blank, and in the center of it was a big box that read, 'TRANSMISSION TERMINATED'. The crew just watched as the ship's missiles moved to face them.

Luna stopped struggling, and Bones dropped her arm as Jim turned around. He looked at everyone, feeling nothing but failure. He couldn't save his crew. His main job as captain was to make sure his crew was safe, and here they all were, about to die. "I'm sorry." He breathed out, trying to keep tears from falling down his face.

Luna gulped as she moved toward him. Jim watched her every movement, terrified that any moment could be the last time he saw her. When they reached each other, she fell into his chest, and he wrapped his arms around her while planting kisses all over the side of her face. If they were going to die right here and right now, they would die in each other's arms while whispering sweet nothings into each other's ears.

As they held onto each other, Sulu looked to them with wide eyes once he got an alert on the control panel. "Their weapons have powered down. Sir."

Both Jim and Luna looked up from their embrace to look at Sulu, and then at each other, not sure what was happening. "Enterprise!" Both of their eyes lit up as they turned around and broke their hug to look at the windshield. "Can you hear me?"

"Scotty!" Luna screamed out from excitement, swiping all the tears she could off of her face.

"Guess what I found behind Jupiter."

"You're on that ship!" Everyone on the bridge was buzzing with excitement at the fact that Scotty had bought them some extra time.

"I snuck on. And seeing as I've just committed an act of treason against a Starfleet Admiral, I'd _really_ like to get off this bloody ship. Now beam me out!"

"You're a miracle worker." Jim continued, trying to figure out a way to get Scotty back on the ship. "We're a little low on power right now. Just stand by. Stand by."

"What do you mean, 'low on power'? What happened to the Enterprise?" That's when Scotty heard a loud bang from behind him, knowing he had to get out of that area before he was found. "Call you back." He whispered before shutting his communicator.

"Scotty!" Luna yelled, but she knew the communication was gone. She turned to look at Jim, with her jaw slightly dropped. Her neurons were seeming to fire faster than her brain could handle. First Jim was going to sacrifice himself, then they were all going to die, then they were saved, and now they had to worry about Scotty's life. "We have to get him off that ship before Marcus finds him."

Jim nodded before turning around quickly. "Spock. Our ship, how is she?"

"Our options are limited, Captain." Spock told him as Bones joined the group as well. "We cannot fire and we cannot flee."

Jim looked down for a moment, putting on that mischievous thinking face they were all frightened of. "There is one option."

"Jim." Both Luna and Bones said at the same time, becoming instantly stressed about whatever option he had come up with.

"Uhura, when you get Scotty back, patch him through."

All Uhura could do right now was her job, she couldn't argue with Jim like Spock, Luna, and Bones could. "Yes, sir."

"Mr. Spock, you have the conn." Jim continued his glance to Luna. He knew that anxious expression by now. He gave her a tiny wink before trying to hurry off the bridge. "Bones, come with me to the med bay."

Luna looked in-between Spock and Bones, knowing they had to do something to stop him. They each looked forward at the same time before running off together. "Captain, I strongly object." Spock called as the three of them joined him on the elevator.

He turned around, noticing they had all piled in, leading to him letting out a big sigh. "To what? I haven't said anything yet."

The trio looked at each other like Jim's plan was the most obvious in the world. Spock decided to start. "Since we cannot take the ship from the outside, the only way we can take it is from within."

"And," Luna continued, making Jim turn around while looking back and forth at the three. "As a large boarding party would be detected, you're only going to take as few as possible."

Bones took a long sigh before adding on. "Their guards are going to be military, requiring you to bring someone with advanced combat abilities and innate knowledge of that ship."

"This indicates that you plan to align with Khan." Spock finished as they all kept intense eye contact with Jim. "The very man we were sent here to destroy."

The elevator doors opened, and Jim stepped out, the three following extremely close behind. "I'm not aligning with him, I'm using him. 'The enemy of my enemy is my friend.'"

"An Arabic proverb attributed to a prince who was betrayed and decapitated by his own subjects." Spock pointed out, not easing anyone's nerves.

"Still, it's a hell of a quote."

"I will go with you, Captain." Spock spoke, grabbing onto Jim's shoulder to turn him around.

"No," Jim sighed out while turning around before Spock could do it to him, knowing the three of them were going to try to convince him otherwise. "I need you on the bridge."

"Then I'll go with you." Luna pressed.

"Me too." Bones included, trying to sound as confident as he could after everything that happened in the past five minutes.

"No." Jim told them sternly. He looked back and forth between all of them, knowing no matter what, he couldn't lose any of them. Not again. "I need you _all_ here."

"I cannot allow you to do this." Spock pressed as both Luna and Bones nodded in agreement. "It is my function aboard this ship to advise you on making the wisest decisions possible, something I firmly believe you are incapable of doing in this moment."

"You're right!" Jim finally yelled, knowing this was the only way he was going to get his point across. "What I'm about to do, it doesn't make any sense, it's not logical," he turned to Luna, "it's not ideal," then he turned to Bones, "and it's most definitely not smart." He took a deep breath before continuing, hoping they would all understand. "It is a gut feeling. I have _no idea_ what I'm supposed to do. I only know what I _can_ do." They all took deep breaths, knowing these moments were going to be some of the most stressful they were ever going to have to go through. "The Enterprise and her crew need someone in that chair that knows what he's doing. And it's not me." His eyes focused on Spock and Luna standing close together, knowing they were the one thing the Enterprise needed right now. "It's you two."

Jim turned around, Bones gulping before deciding to follow, knowing he would need him with Khan. Luna began to breathe more heavily than normal, feeling the anxiety begin to rise in her chest. "Jim!" She screamed out desperately.

Jim turned around as Luna's feet took off, finding herself jumping into his arms. Jim held her tight, not including anything fancy, just holding her as close to him as he could. "Come back to me." She whispered into his ears, that desperate voice creeping in again. "Please come back to me."

Jim sighed while rubbing her back, knowing that this was the safest option for her. "You know I will."

She got down from his grip before leaning forward to give him a light, but loving kiss. He smiled once they were done, really hoping each of them could get through this thing alive.

* * *

Jim and Bones walked into the med bay, the both of them staring at Khan, wanting nothing more than to kick him off the ship, but they needed him. He was their only chance of getting rid of Marcus. Jim took a deep breath before going to stand directly in front of Khan as Bones moved to continue with his tests from earlier. "Tell me everything you know about that ship."

Khan didn't waste a minute. "Dreadnought class. Two times the size, three times the speed. Advanced weaponry. Modified for a minimal crew. Unlike most Federation vessels, it's built solely for combat."

Jim glared at Khan, knowing he had to make some ground rules before they went on this mission together. "I will do everything I can to make you answer for what you did. But right now, I need your help."

Khan knew that if Kirk was coming to him, he had to be desperate, but he wasn't going to help him without something in return. "In exchange for what?"

"You said you'd do anything for your crew. I can guarantee their safety."

Khan scoffed without breaking his glare with Jim. "Captain. You can't even guarantee the safety of your _own_ crew."

That just pissed Jim off even more. His glare got deeper, but Jim had to stop himself from going at Khan like he did earlier. "Bones," Jim finally spoke, knowing he had to distract himself from his anger. "What are you doing with that tribble?"

"The tribble's dead." Bones spoke as he prepared a shot for it. "I'm injecting Khan's platelets into the deceased tissue of a necrotic host. Khan's cells regenerate like nothing I've ever seen, and I want to know why."

Jim's glare moved to Khan again before he stepped forward, giving Khan little space. "You coming with me or not?" Khan thought for a moment before looking back to Jim with a slight smile on his face. Doing this would give him the perfect opportunity to exact revenge on Marcus. His smile just got a little bigger, and Jim kept his glare, but he was terrified for what Khan had planned.

 _ **MisfitCarter: God, Infinity War MURDERED me. I think I'm still dead. You can PM me and we can talk about spoilers and stuff if you've seen it. My boyfriend and I were both sobbing on each other. And I'm such an education pusher (hence my major) so yes please come talk to me anytime! Oh, back on the topic of the story, I'm glad you liked it ;)**_

 _ **Love. Fiction. 2018: :)))))))))))))))))**_

 _ **Lucky Chances: This is so sweet! When I first saw it I thought you were going to roast me, but then I continued reading and I was like oh it's super nice lol. And your stories sound awesome! Whenever I have time I'm going to read them! Thank you for your sweet review!**_

 _ **blue-lily295: I was getting frustrated with myself while writing this chapter because it's like a push and pull thing I have going on with Jim and Luna and all of the outside forces at this point. I was like Janae, why do you do this? Thank you for the review, love!**_

 ** _I AM DONE WITH SCHOOL. Well, for this year. But that means more time to write! And I may get an acting job soon. For a local theater, but still a real paying acting job. I'm super excited. But anyway, I hope you guys liked this chapter, and remember to review! We're getting to the emotional stuff so everyone hold on tight._**


	10. Monstrous

Scotty was still running through the ship, trying to avoid being found while he held his communicator in front of him, still in shock from what Jim had told him. "You want to do what?"

Two red shirts were in front of Khan and Jim, and two behind them, making sure there was no way Khan could try to pull something. Jim sighed before answering Scotty, knowing he wasn't going to be in favor of this idea. "We're coming over there. Sulu's maneuvering the Enterprise into position as we speak."

"To this ship? How?"

Jim turned to look at Khan, giving him a cue to speak. "There's a cargo door, hangar seven, access port 101A. You need to find the manual override to open that airlock."

Scotty continued to run through the ship to find what the mysterious man was talking about, but this idea was mad. "Are you crazy?" Scotty paused, wanting to address the man's name, but he had no idea who this person was. "Whoever you are."

"Just listen to him, Scotty." Jim assured, trying to ease Scotty's worries in any way. "It's gonna be all right."

"It is not gonna be all right." Scotty sighed, his voice filled with annoyance. "You want me to open an airlock into space, whereupon I will freeze, die, and explode!"

* * *

When Spock and Luna got back to the bridge, Spock went directly to Uhura. "Lieutenant, from our current position, is it possible to establish contact with New Vulcan?"

She was confused by his request, but she was going to follow orders "I'll do my best."

"Thank you."

Spock turned around to see Luna standing near the captain's chair with her hands on her hips, trying to assess the situation. "Mr. Sulu, what is the status of the other ship?"

"Their systems are still offline." He reported while slightly turning around to look at her. "I'm aligning our ship now."

When Spock joined Luna, the two looked at each other, Luna taking a deep sigh before nodding toward Uhura. "What was that about? What do you want with New Vulcan?"

Spock sighed as he moved to sit down in the captain's chair. "I need advice from a trusted confidante." Luna's eyebrows knitted in confusion as she still watched Spock, he simply shrugged, knowing he was confusing her. "You'll see."

* * *

As Jim and Khan got prepared to be shot out of the ship, Jim looked to the small microphone in his suit before talking. "Scotty, how we doing over there?"

"Captain, I wish I had better news." Scotty sighed out. "They've locked out access to the ship's computer. They'll have full weapons in three minutes. That means next time I won't be able to stop them destroying the Enterprise." He sighed before running off, trying to find a way to disable the weapons. "Stand by."

On the bridge, Sulu turned to look to the captain's chair. "Commander, our trash exhaust is aimed at access port 101A of the other ship."

Luna looked down at the button Spock pressed while sitting in the chair, ready to pass the information onto Jim. "Captain, the ships are aligned."

"Copy that." Jim spoke with a nod before going back to Scotty. "Scotty!"

"I'm in the hangar." Scotty reported just as he ran in. "Give me a minute." Scotty ran down the long hall, wheezing as he did. He wasn't used to this much running on the engineering deck. "I'm running. Stand by." When he finally made it to the end of the hall, and saw the size of the door they were going to jump into, he began to fill with panic. "Whoa, whoa, hold on, now, Captain. This door is very wee. I mean, you know, small. It's four square meters, tops. It's gonna be like jumping out of a moving car, off a bridge, into your shot glass."

"It's okay." Jim assured him. "I've done it before." Khan slowly turned to look at him with a confused face, leaving Jim to mutter out his previous experience with something like this. "Yeah, it was vertical. We jumped onto a..." Khan didn't look impressed with him at all, so Jim was going to try one more time with an explanation before giving up. "It was a..." Still nothing. "It doesn't matter. Scotty – "

Khan, done with all of this, just wanted to get on that ship. "Did you find the manual override?"

"The manual override," Jim cut in quickly, wanting to be the one in charge of this mission. "Scotty."

"Not yet, not yet." Scotty complained while running to the control board.

"Captain," Jim perked up at the sound of Luna's voice in his ear. "Before you launch, you should be aware there is a considerable debris field between our ships."

"Not now." Jim commanded to her, taking Luna aback on the bridge. "Scotty, you good?"

"It's not easy!" Scotty yelled to them angrily. "Just give me two seconds, all right, you mad bastard!"

"Jim," Luna spoke again. "The debris."

"I know, Lieutenant Commander." Jim sounded annoyed with her in that moment. "You've already said it."

Luna let out a loud sigh before speaking again. "Be _careful_."

"Are you worried about me, Luna?" Khan turned over to look at Jim again with the same annoyed face.

Luna just rolled her eyes, deciding to talk to him once more before letting him get prepared for the jump. "Just shut up and watch out for the debris."

Khan slowly kneeled down so he was prepared for the jump, making Jim nervous. He wasn't sure if he was threatened by him or if he was scared he would turn on him, but he was going to do what Luna said. Be careful. He slowly went down as well, watching Khan intensely before looking directly in front of him.

On the bridge, Bones moved over to Spock and Luna, kneeling closer to Spock as Luna continued to stand there while holding onto her hands nervously. "Tell me this is gonna work." Bones pleaded without looking at either of them.

Spock slightly shook his head before answering him. "I have neither the information nor the confidence to do so, Doctor."

Both Bones and Luna rolled their eyes at his response before Bones stood up. "Boy, you're a real comfort."

Bones moved to Luna, the two grabbing each other's arms while staring at each other. "It's gonna work." Luna seemed to say it more to assure herself than to assure Bones, but he was going to take any comfort his nerves could get.

"Okay, okay!" Scotty finally reported with excitement. "I'm set to open the door."

Jim didn't even turn to Khan before speaking to him. "You ready?"

"Are you?"

Jim gulped, knowing he was nervous, and that Khan was able to see that. He took a deep breath before giving off the signal. "Spock, pull the trigger."

"Yes, Captain." Everyone on the bridge turned to look at Spock, everyone's anxiety seemed to be focused on this one action. Luna broke out of her father's grip on her arms before slowly walking over to stand besides Spock. She took a deep gulp before giving Spock the nod he was waiting for. "Launching activation sequence," he reported as he typed on his keypad to release them, "on three, two, one."

Everyone held their breath as they watched the two fly from one ship to the other. "Sir," Spock, Bones, and Luna each turned to the red shirt with terrified looks on their faces. "Kirk is headed for collision at .432!"

Luna immediately moved her hand to her ear piece as she turned back to watching them through the windshield. "Captain, there is debris directly ahead."

"Copy that." He swerved out of the way, jeopardizing getting to the door in time.

Bones hurried to the map displayed slightly behind the captain's chair. "Whoa! Jim," he exclaimed as soon as he was able to see the projected landing point, "you're way off course!"

"I know, I know! I can see that." Jim's voice was more annoyed than anything as he tried to swerve back into the correct course.

Scotty continued making a few last-minute preparations to make sure he didn't fly out of the door when he let them in. That's when he heard a phaser behind him, making him go stiff. "Don't move."

Scotty got up with his mouth dropped, just staring at the man, not sure what to do. This was going to ruin the entire plan. "Scotty, you're gonna be ready with that door, right?" he heard Jim from the communicator, making him even more worried that the guard was going to piece together what he was doing.

"What are you doing in here?" the guard asked, keeping his intense stare with him.

Scotty just began bouncing on his heels, trying to make it look like he wasn't doing anything wrong, but Scotty wasn't the best when it came to lying or being sneaky. "Wee bit of maintenance on the airlock console." Scotty then looked the man up and down, thinking again about his size. "You're big."

"Mr. Scott," Jim called again, in a voice that screamed desperation. "where are you?"

"Captain, he can't seem to hear you." It was Uhura that time, and Scotty was just hoping they could all try not to blow his cover for a little bit. "I'm working on getting his signal back. Stand by."

As Jim continued to fly, he was more focused on getting back on course than anything. So as he swerved to get back, some of the debris Luna had warned him about earlier flew directly into his helmet. "Damn it."

Everyone paused for a moment, not sure what else could possibly go wrong. Luna slowly brought her hand up to her ear piece, taking in deep breaths from fear of the unknown. "Jim, what is it?"

"My helmet was hit." Luna gulped, not sure what to do, but Jim wasn't going to give her time to freak out. "Tell me you have Mr. Scott back."

Luna immediately turned around to Uhura as she worked madly away at her station. "Uhura?"

"Not yet. I'm still working on a signal." Luna turned back to the ship's windshield, her eyes scanning the area as fast as they could move. "His communicator _is_ working. I don't know why he isn't responding."

On Marcus's ship, the guard has his phaser pointed at Scotty, but he was beginning to hear the noise from the communicator directly behind Scotty's back. "What is that?"

Scotty just looked him over, knowing he was going to have to keep him as distracted as possible until Jim got close enough. That was the only way it was going to work. "Are you Starfleet or private security?"

"Show me your other hand." The man demanded.

Scotty just had to keep him talking long enough for this to work. "Because you look like private security."

Luna was getting frustrated with Scotty, wondering what the hell was going on in his head, but she knew she had to continue on with her job. "Imminent collision detected!"

"Khan," Spock called out, not really caring about what happened to Khan, but Jim needed to use him for this plan to work, so Spock was going to make sure he made it. "use evasive action! There is debris directly ahead."

"I see it." Khan reported instantly as he swerved out of the way. And that's when Khan's signal went down.

Luna and Spock didn't know what to do for a moment, it was like he just disappeared. They needed Khan alive for this to work. "Mr. Sulu, did we lose Khan?" Spock asked in a panicked voice.

"I don't know, Commander." Sulu was just as baffled as the two commanders. "I'm having trouble tracking him in all this debris."

"Was Khan hit?" Jim asked, matching everyone else's panic.

"We are trying to find him now." Spock told him as calmly as he could.

"Captain," Luna spoke into her earpiece, knowing she had to continue to keep Jim calm if he was going to survive this. "you need to adjust your target destination to 183 by 473 degrees."

"Luna," she gulped at the sound of his voice, he sounded like he was trying to say goodbye. "My display's dead. I'm flying blind."

"Captain, without your display compass, hitting your target destination is mathematically impossible."

"Spock," Jim simply sighed out at his friend's response to that information. "If I get back, we really need to talk about your bedside manner."

"Commander," Luna turned to Sulu, hoping there was something, _anything_ that would help assure Jim's safety. "he's not going to make it."

Luna shook her head, not wanting to believe it, but not being able to fight with the data in front of her. She was losing her hope slowly, and her breathing was just getting heavier. She pushed her earpiece in again, knowing if this was going to be the last time she talked to Jim, she had to say something to him. "Jim," there was so much to say, but there was only one way to say it all, "I – "

Just then, Khan appeared back on the screen, taking everyone by excitement and shock. "My display is still functioning. I see you, Kirk, you're 200 meters ahead of me at my one o'clock. Come to your left a few degrees and follow me."

Jim quickly moved to be positioned right next to Khan, and when he did, Khan gave him a little smile. Jim wasn't sure how to read it. He didn't know if he was falling right into his trap or not. He decided that right now, he needed to focus on getting into the ship without dying. "Scotty, we're getting close. We need a warm welcome. Do you copy? Do you copy?" There was still no answer. "Scotty?!"

"If you can hear us, Mr. Scott," Spock called, "open the door in ten, nine,"

"Scotty!" Jim yelled, more angry than before.

Back on the ship, the guard was trying to look behind Scotty's back where his communicator was linked to everyone yelling at him to open the door. "That person counting down, what is that?"

"Eight,"

Scotty shook his head, trying to keep this as low key as possible. "I think you're hearing things, mate."

"Seven,"

"Mr. Scott, where are you?" Jim called again.

"Six, five,"

Another cadet on the Enterprise was watching "1,800 meters. 1,600 meters."

"Scotty," Luna almost yelled, "where _are_ you?"

"Three,"

"Do you copy, Scotty?" Jim yelled, finding himself completely desperate at this point. "Please!"

"Scotty!" Luna yelled in a frazzled voice, knowing that in two seconds, if he didn't respond, Jim would be dead. "Scotty, god dammit! Open! The! Door!"

"Two,"

Scotty dragged a breath in, giving the guard a sympathetic smile, knowing he would rather have him dead over Jim. "Sorry about this."

"About what?"

"Mr. Scott, open the door!" Spock yelled, losing his patience.

"Open the door!" Jim yelled out desperately.

"Mr. Scott, now!" Luna screamed in her last attempt to get Jim saved.

Scotty turned around, and slammed the button, letting Jim and Khan fly in with ease as Scotty held on to the rope to keep him from flying out. For the guard, he didn't have that luxury. He flew out of the door as Scotty shut it with the press of another button. Jim and Khan fell to the floor, rolling from the sudden stop.

Right before they stumbled into Scotty, they were able to stop, lying on the ground, breathing heavily. Scotty smiled at the two slightly when Jim looked up at him. "Welcome aboard."

"It's good to see you, Scotty." Jim spoke, still trying to get his breath back.

"Oh, thank god." Luna placed her hands on her knees at the sound of that greeting. Everyone was cheering as Luna let out deep, terrified breaths.

Scotty turned to look at Khan, not recognizing him at all, and he looked frightening. "Who is that?"

Khan was already standing up, not as drained as Jim was from their tumble. Jim let out a groan of pain before turning back to Scotty. "Khan, Scotty. Scotty, Khan."

Scotty gave him a polite nod and smile, but still wasn't sure how to feel about him. "Hello."

"They'll know we're here." Khan spoke as he stood up, not caring about the greeting Scotty had given him. "I know the best way to the bridge."

The three of them were able to get their phasers together, Jim slowly handing one to Khan, still not totally sure if he could trust him. "It's locked to stun."

"Theirs won't be." Khan said it like Jim was dumb for thinking that setting the phasers to stun was a good idea.

Jim simply turned to him, his face blank of emotion before speaking. "Try not to get shot."

* * *

Uhura turned around to Spock, breaking the conversation he and Luna were having. "Commander, I have that transmission as requested."

Luna turned to look at Spock with a confused glance. Spock just nodded before moving to the captain's chair. "On screen, please."

"Stand by." Uhura announced.

Luna moved closer to Spock with confusion on her face. "Who did you call?"

Spock just continued to look at the screen. "You'll see."

Luna was still confused, opening her mouth to speak again when the person they hailed appeared on the screen. Luna's jaw dropped at the look of him. An older Spock. The man gave a slight smile before addressing the commander. "Mr. Spock."

Spock nodded to the man before addressing him back. Mr. Spock."

Bones and Luna turned to look at each other before looking back to the screen. "What the hell?" She whispered, not able to wrap her brain around the fact that there were two Spock's talking to each other like old friends.

* * *

Scotty was still distraught from what Khan had said earlier about the phasers. This seemed like a death sentence. "They're going to have full power and we're walking? "

"The turbolifts are easily tracked and Marcus would have us in a cage. This path runs adjacent to the engine room." Khan stopped at one of the computers beginning to type into it like he knew exactly what he was doing. "They know they won't be able to use their weapons here without destabilizing the warp core, which gives us the advantage." Khan began running again, leaving Scotty dumbfounded as Jim kept watching Khan for fear of sabotage.

Scotty turned to look at Jim, still confused. "Where'd you find this guy?"

Jim sighed without looking at Scotty, knowing he couldn't take his eyes off of Khan for even a second. "It's a long story."

* * *

Luna, and the rest of the crew was still dumbfounded about the appearance of a second Spock, not sure what to do. "I will be brief." Spock spoke, tearing her concentration away from the screen to the Spock sitting right next to her. "In your travels, did you ever encounter a man named Khan?"

The name seemed to send a shudder down the older Spock's spine, causing him to need a moment to collect his words before speaking. "As you know, I have made a vow never to give you information that could potentially alter your destiny. Your path is yours to walk, and yours alone. You control your own destiny." Luna turned back to the screen while her eyebrows knitted together at what he had said. Spock's head fell slightly, but the older Spock knew that facing Khan, they would need all the help they could get. "That being said," Spock perked up slightly, waiting to hear what he had to say, "Khan Noonien Singh is the most dangerous adversary the Enterprise ever faced. He is brilliant, ruthless, and he will not hesitate to kill _every single one_ of you."

Luna looked to Spock, sharing an expression of fear before Luna looked back to the older Spock, wanting to ask him the question that was burning in her brain. "Did you defeat him?"

Spock turned to a friend who had been dead for ages, wanting to just tell her to turn around and get off the ship before anything happened to them, but he knew Luna. Her own life didn't matter to her right now. Only the safety of the crew. "At great cost." He told her slowly before offering her a nod. "Yes."

Spock just stared at his older self, wondering how they actually achieved this. "How?"

* * *

As the trio walked through the ship, Scotty was beginning to feel uneasy at the lack of crew walking around the ship. It all felt too...easy. "I don't mean to tempt fate here, but where is everybody?"

Still, Khan continued to walk forward, not turning to address Scotty. "The ship is designed to be flown by minimal crew, one, if necessary."

"One?" Scotty asked incredulously. "I – "

Before Scotty could finish his sentence, private security came from a nearby corridor, trying to punch Khan, but Khan was able to keep his own in a much brutal way than the other two were used to.

As Scotty and Jim began to step back, more security came to take them on. Jim fought them as best as he could, but the security was a fair fight. Khan on the other hand, he wasn't even breaking a sweat. When Jim had successfully knocked out his guard, he turned to Scotty, helping him up from the ground. "You all right?" Jim asked while looking him over.

"Yeah." Scotty nodded before looking to where he had last seen Khan. That's when he realized, he had disappeared. "Where's Khan?"

Jim followed Scotty's glance, beginning to feel panic. He knew he couldn't trust Khan, and now he was just gone. They had to find him as quick as possible.

* * *

Spock stood up after the transmission ended while everyone else on the ship slowly turned to look at Spock. Based on what Spock Prime had just said, someone was going to die facing Khan, but then again, he also said that they control their own destiny. Spock turned to Uhura, devising a plan. "Lieutenant, I need you to assemble all senior medical and engineering staff in the weapons bay."

Uhura was confused by what he said but decided to comply. "All right."

When Spock turned around, Luna was standing directly behind him. She nodded a little at him with a smirk growing on her face. "I think I know where you're going." She then turned around to her father that was quickly advancing towards them. "Dad, you inadvertently activated a torpedo. Could you replicate the process?"

Bones just stared at her blankly, not sure what she was thinking. "Why the hell would I want to do that?"

Spock simply moved to stand next to her, happy that for the first time since he offered his life as a sacrifice, they were on the same page. "Can you or can you not?"

Bones leaned even closer to the two, becoming angry. "Damn it, man, I'm a doctor, not a torpedo technician!"

The two only stepped closer to him, knowing that if they were going to pull one over on Khan, this had to work, and they needed Bones' help. "The fact that you are a doctor is precisely why I need you to listen very carefully."

* * *

Jim had his phaser in front of him, knowing Khan was going to do something awful when he wasn't under Jim's supervision. Scotty followed behind him closely, getting that exact same vibe. "Where is he?" Scotty asked in a terrified voice.

Jim stopped, remembering the phaser he gave him was set on stun. If he knew Khan, he knew that he was going to be off somewhere switching that. "Shit!"

"This way." They both turned around quickly to see Khan fiddling with his phaser before dropping it to his side and sticking it in his holster.

Khan continued the way he knew to go, leaving Scotty and Jim alone for a moment. Jim didn't take his eyes off of Khan when addressing Scotty. "The minute we get to the bridge, drop him."

Scotty's eyes got wide, not sure that he would be able to do that. Khan was cunning, he would be able to see Scotty coming for him from a mile away. "What, stun him? Khan? I thought he was helping us."

Jim shook his head before moving in front of Scotty to follow Khan. "I'm pretty sure we're helping him."

As they hurried to the bridge, the power came on, making them all run this time. "Power coming online, sir!" one of the cadets told Marcus.

"Retarget the Enterprise now." As soon as he gave that command, Jim, Khan, and Scotty made it to the bridge, trying to shoot whatever equipment they could to keep that from happening as well as stunning the cadets. Carol took advantage of the chaos, deciding to punch the guard that was holding onto her, and hurry to her friends.

Together, Jim, Khan, and Scotty stunned every officer they could, leaving just Marcus. The three of them advanced to him, giving Scotty the perfect shot. Scotty stunned Khan, letting him fall to the floor as Marcus continued to watch, not sure what they were going to do next.

"Make sure he stays down." Jim commanded.

Scotty nodded before squeezing past Carol with a small, "excuse me," while hurrying to Khan.

Carol was standing close by as Jim held his phaser up to the admiral with fiery eyes. "Admiral Marcus, you're under arrest."

"You're not actually going to do this, are you?" Marcus didn't even look remotely threatened, he continued with his icy stare.

"Admiral," Jim began calmly, knowing that he had to keep his cool when dealing with him or he was going to get heated very quickly. "get out of the chair."

Marcus let out a dark chuckle before addressing Jim. "You better stop and think about what you're doing, Kirk. You better think about what _you_ did on Kronos. You made an incursion onto an enemy planet! You _killed_ a Klingon patrol." Scotty turned to look at the two, realizing how bad all of that sounded. He didn't want to admit it, but Marcus was right in a way. They were in big trouble no matter how these events shaked out. " _Even_ if you got away without a trace, war is coming. And who is going to lead us? _You_?! If I'm not in charge, our entire way of life is decimated! So, you want me off this ship, you better kill me."

Jim continued to keep his cool as he stared down Marcus which he had come a long way to achieve. "I'm not going to kill you, sir. But I could stun your ass and drag you out of that chair. I'd rather not do that in front of your daughter." Carol was continuing to stare hateful daggers at her father when Jim turned to look at her. "You all right?"

She continued staring at her father, wanting him to know how upset she was with him. "Yes, Captain."

Scotty was still looking over at the drama that was unfolding, giving Khan the perfect chance. He knocked Scotty down, and began to move to Jim and Marcus. "Jim!" Carol screamed out in a warning, but by the time Jim turned around, Khan had tackled him to the ground.

Marcus tried to run away as Khan attacked Jim, punching him over and over again in the face and gut before throwing him to the side. He then advanced on Carol, throwing her down with ease before snapping her leg with a simple stomp.

Marcus was still trying to scurry away, but Khan had reached him. He grabbed Marcus' head, beginning to pull him away from the door while squeezing his head ferociously. He pushed Marcus down into a seat, continuing the pressure on the sides of his head as Marcus screamed from the agony. "You..." Khan was like an animal in that moment, the only thing driving him was primal rage, and every bit of humanity he had left flew right out of the window. "You should have let me sleep."

With one final squeeze, Marcus' head had imploded under Khan's hands, leaving his skull a crumpled mess as blood poured out of the sides of his head like a spout. Carol let out a deafening scream at her father's bloody mess as Jim just looked at the scene in disbelief. He knew something now. Khan was going to kill every single one of them without any remorse. Jim knew that he was going to have to keep him on this ship, away from his crew for as long as possible. Even if it killed him.

 _ **Purplestan: Thank so you much for your review. It's been two months and I'm still dead from Infinity War**_

 _ **MisfitCarter: Ugh yes about Jim's line! It gives me chills! I'm so excited to write all the action and drama that happens in these next few chapters, and I hope you are too!**_

 _ **Love. Fiction. 2018: Thank you for your constant reviews, love! They mean the world to me!**_

 _ **Lucky Chances: Thank you so much! I keep the canon as much as possible, but I love adding extra bits that make the canon even more dramatic. I love writing OC's, and I'm so happy you're enjoying this one!**_

 _ **KnightLawn: Thank you, hun! I hope you're still enjoying the story!**_

 _ **LMarie99: AH! I'm so happy you loved the last chapter, and I hope you love this one just as much!**_

 _ **Hey guys, sorry I've been gone for a long time. I got a chance to do some professional acting this summer, and I had to jump on it. So I've been rehearsing and performing non stop. But the play's over, and I'm back! I hope you all liked this chapter, and hopefully I'll get to updating regularly again. I hope you all liked this chapter, thanks for waiting on me! Remember to review!**_


	11. You Knew I Would

Spock hurried to the helm with Luna. Spock turned to Sulu as Luna sat down in her seat, trying to help Sulu in locating Jim. "Where is the Captain, Mr. Sulu?"

"Our sensor array's down, sir." Sulu immediately reported as Luna began to work on the helm crazily, trying to find a way around that. "I can't find him."

Luna turned around to look at Spock with intense, frightened eyes. "Khan is going to kill him, Spock."

Before Spock could say anything, a live video appeared on the screen. Jim was guided to the camera while grunting, and behind him was Khan, gripping the back of his neck, controlling all movement in his body with one hold. Luna stood up, knowing they had to do something, but what could they do? They were on a completely different ship. "I'm going to make this very simple for you." Khan growled out, obviously in a murderous rage.

"Captain." Spock called out from fear.

Khan was going to continue his threat despite Spock's interruption. "Your crew for my crew."

"You betrayed us." Luna growled out while moving in front of the helm, standing next to Spock, both holding their position of power in front of a threat.

Khan got an evil smile on his face at her bravery and wit. "You are smart, Lieutenant Commander."

"Luna, Spock don't – " Khan cut Jim off by karate chopping the back of his neck, causing him to fall to the floor with groans of pain before passing out.

Luna's face displayed the hurt she felt from Jim falling down in pain, and Khan simply smiled while returning to look back at the two. "Mr. Spock, Ms. McCoy, give me my crew."

Spock and Luna slowly turned to glance at each other with worry before looking back to the screen. He couldn't have them. None of them could be woken up, and Khan couldn't take power again. "And what will you do when you get them?"

"Continue the work we were doing before we were banished."

Luna shook her head at him, finding the man completely insane. After years of nothing but thinking, he still thought his way was the right way. "Which, as I understand it," Spock began, "involves the mass genocide of any being you find to be less than superior."

Khan was unblinking, still staring down Spock with murder in his eyes. "Shall I destroy you, Mr. Spock? Or will you give me what I want?"

There was an intense silence. They had to get Jim back. There was no other option. "We have no transporter capabilities." Luna finally told him with a shrug, not sure what he wanted them to do.

Khan's icy gaze switched to Luna, finding her to be the weaker one of the two since she so desperately wanted Jim back. "Fortunately, mine are perfectly functional. Drop your shields."

Spock and Luna turned to each other again, seeming to have a silent conversation just through eye contact before Spock broke away to face Khan again. "If I do so, I have no guarantee that you will not destroy the Enterprise."

Khan got a sick smile on his face before beginning to speak. "Well, let's play this out logically then, Mr. Spock. Firstly, I will kill your Captain to demonstrate my resolve." Everyone on the Enterprise seemed to suck in a deep breath at the fear of that as Luna found herself trembling and twitching from fear. "Then if yours holds, I will have no choice but to kill you and your entire crew."

Luna took a step forward, fear and anger driving her. "If you destroy our ship, you will also destroy your own people."

"Your crew requires oxygen to survive, mine does not." He told them simply and matter-of-factly before continuing. "I will target your life support systems located behind the aft nacelle. And after every single person aboard your ship suffocates, I will walk over your cold corpses to recover my people." Khan took a breath from his speech as Jim slowly began to come to, trying to lift himself into a push up position. "Now, shall we begin?"

The intense stares continued until Spock broke away to turn to Sulu. "Lower shields."

Khan got a simple smile on his face while nodding at his choice. "A wise choice, Mr. Spock." Khan began to hurry to the nearest computer, but he stopped to kick Jim in the ribs. With Jim's groan, Luna let out a loud gasp before covering her mouth, trying to keep from another display of weakness towards Khan. "I see your 72 torpedoes are still in their tubes. If they are not mine, Commander, I will know it."

"Vulcans do not lie." Spock's voice held some kind of intentional sass to it which very few were used to. "The torpedoes are yours."

Khan quickly transported the pods into his own ship, and once that was done, there was a wash of relief over him, knowing that his crew was safe and with him. "Thank you, Mr. Spock."

Luna stepped forward again, still angry with Khan, and this entire situation. "All right, we scratched your back, your turn to scratch ours."

Khan had sat down in the captain's chair while Jim, Scotty, and Carol were struggling and crawling to each other. Khan looked down at them, a sick smile growing on his face again. "Well, Kirk, it seems apt to return you to your crew." The warm swirl of light began to appear around their bodies, as Khan's smile seeming eviller after every second. "After all, no ship should go down without her captain."

Everyone stiffened when an alert began to come from the helm. Spock and Luna turned around, panic over their faces, knowing this wasn't part of their plan. "He's locking phasers on us, sir!"

An explosion then went off in the lower deck, making the entire ship shake. Luna held onto Spock for support, and when she straightened herself up, she looked at Spock, really hoping he would be able to forgive her. "I have to go to Jim."

She began taking off, Spock turning around while looking at her incredulously. "Lieutenant Commander!"

She turned around while still trying to jog backwards. "Someone has to tell them what's going on!" Spock sighed, not liking it, but giving her a nod anyway. She gave him a thankful smile before turning around and running again.

Jim, Scotty, and Carol were transported into the prison cell of the ship. Jim went to Carol, trying to see if she was okay as Scotty moved to the guard who was watching the cell. Once he got to the glass, he banged on it, alerting the guard who was just worrying about the explosion. "Let us out of here now!" Another explosion rocked the ship, sending them all flying onto their backs.

More explosions rocked the ship, everyone trying to hold onto something to keep up right. On the bridge, Sulu was still monitoring. "Shields at 6%!"

"The torpedoes!" Spock yelled, hoping they'd be able to stop this soon. "How much time, Lieutenant?"

"Twelve seconds, sir!"

Spock opened up a shipwide channel, knowing they needed to be prepared even if they didn't know the plan. "Crew of the Enterprise, prepare for imminent proximity detonation."

Scotty and Jim were walking through the halls, both supporting Carol while she limped between them. Scotty heard Spock's voice making his eyebrows knit together. "What's he talking about? What detonation?"

"The torpedoes." Jim whispered in private realization. He began to grow a small smile on his face, realizing how smart Spock could be. "He armed the damn torpedoes!" In twelve short seconds, every single torpedo in Khan's ship went off, sending Khan on the floor of the bridge while screaming in agony at his friends' lives leaving him.

Sulu sat on the bridge, with a proud smile on his face as they watched the ship being attacked from within. "Sir, their weapons have been knocked out." He turned around to look at Spock, keeping that proud smile while giving him a nod. "Not bad, Commander."

Spock gave him a proud smile right back. "Thank you, Lieutenant."

* * *

Just as Luna turned down the hallway to get to the medical bay, Jim, Scotty, and Carol turned the corner on the opposite end of the hallway. They each stopped, Luna's eyes almost welling with tears at seeing them all okay. "Jim!" She called as she began to run to him.

"Luna!" They met each other in a tight embrace, Jim slightly lifting her off the ground while doing so.

When they pulled apart, they both had tears on their cheeks. Luna was smiling from ear to ear through the tears. "You came back." She whispered out.

Jim touched his forehead to hers while Luna's fingers intertwined with his. "You knew I would." Luna was the one to push her chin forward, letting her lips fall on his. Jim wrapped his arms around her, pulling her closer as Luna held onto his back for support. For the first time in a long time, when it came to their relationship, there were no problems. Just simple bliss and appreciation for the other's life.

Scotty was behind them, still supporting Carol, finally making it to the two. "I hate to break up this cheerful reunion," the two broke apart, their hands still interlocked as they turned to look at the them, "but we need some medical attention for this lass."

Luna's jaw dropped when she saw Carol's leg. "Oh my god!" Luna immediately went to Carol's other arm, giving her some support. Luna then turned to Jim, nodding her head toward the medical bay. "Call my dad!"

Jim ran forward, calling out for Bones, the doors opened, and Jim rushed in just as Luna, Scotty, and Carol made it. "Bones!" Jim called out one more time, him making it just in time.

The second Bones saw Carol, he scooped her up in his arms and took her to one of the tables as quick as possible. He looked her over quickly, fear all through his eyes. "Are you alright?"

Carol paused for a moment. She had just seen her father brutally murdered in front of her. Her leg had been snapped like it was nothing. She felt like she had been through war and back. She was not okay. When she met his eyes again though, part of her felt slightly better. She gave him a deep, appreciative smile before nodding. "I'll be fine."

They both smiled at each other while Luna, Jim, and Scotty exchanged glances of interest. Bones then looked up, almost forgetting they were also there. He gave Jim a nod while one of the nurses began working on Carol. "Good to see you, Jim."

Jim moved closer to Bones while looking back and forth from him to Luna. "You helped Spock detonate those torpedoes?"

"Damn right I did." Bones was more distracted at the nurse wheeling away Carol as the four of them began to circle up as they talked, Luna standing close to Scotty, wanting to give him a big hug, but not wanting to take away from this important conversation in the moment.

"He killed Khan's crew!" Jim yelled incredulously as Scotty was paying very close attention, just trying to keep up.

"Spock's cold," Luna began, finding it hard to believe Jim thought they would all be okay with killing seventy-two people, "but he's not that cold."

" _I've_ got Khan's crew." Bones gestured to the storage of all the people which was taking up a good part of the med bay. "Seventy-two human popsicles safe and sound in their cryo tubes."

Jim's mouth was agape, surprised that it actually worked, and for once, they were able to pull one over on Khan. "Son of a bitch!"

The lights then shut out, making everyone wonder what was wrong with the ship _now_ as it seemed to screech to a halt. On the bridge, Spock's brain began running through the possible issues this could be a symptom of. "Sir, the central power grid is failing!"

Spock turned to the lieutenant, knowing they had to get back to earth somehow, and Khan probably wouldn't be far behind them for his revenge. "Switch to auxiliary power."

"Auxiliary power failing, sir."

Everything seemed to come crashing down just as it was being brought together. "Commander," Sulu spoke as the ship began turning on its side, "our ship's caught in Earth's gravity!"

Spock was gripping tightly to the arm rests while taking deep breaths. "Can we stop?"

"I can't do anything!" Sulu yelled out from panic.

Another explosion went off on the ship, leaving Chekov panicking in the engineering deck. Everyone had to get out of there now before any more people were going to be killed. "Clear the area! Engage emergency lockdown!"

In the med bay, all of the doctors and nurses were rushing to keep everything from falling with the ship. Bones moved to Carol, strapping her down to her bed. As he was doing this, he was checking every part of her face, trying to make sure she was still okay. "I hope you don't get seasick."

Carol made a painful face from the slight discomfort this direction was causing to her leg. "Do you?"

Bones looked to her with a worried face. "Yeah." Carol didn't know whether to laugh or be scared he was going to be sick all over her.

Jim, Luna, and Scotty were trying to hold on to the walls to keep upright. "What the hell is going on?" Jim yelled through the chaos.

Scotty was feeling overwheled, not knowing what to do for a moment. "I'd have to go down there and look. It could be _anything_ from the amount of damage she's suffered."

"I'll go with you." Jim spoke while trying to stand up straight before falling into the wall again.

"No." Luna told him matter-of-factly.

That took Jim aback. He was the captain, he was supposed to be giving her orders. "Excuse me?"

Luna let out a soft chuckle while looking at her boyfriend. "Look, you're cute and all, but you don't know a _damn_ thing about engineering. You'll be more dead weight than anything."

Jim scoffed at her. "Jeez, thanks."

"You know what I mean." Luna countered with a sweet smile. She shook her head before nodding to the door. "You're a captain. You need to be with your crew. There are standby pilots who can take my job and have probably already done just that. I can be of use down there." Jim was giving her an unsure look. He had a bad feeling about letting her go, but she was making a good point. "Let me help save this ship."

Jim was just looking in her eyes, knowing this is what she wanted to do more than anything. Save her friends and family. Jim groaned out before pulling her in for a hard kiss. When he pulled away, he held her elbows, making sure she looked him directly in the eye when he said this. "Be careful and come back in one piece."

Luna simply smiled at him while shaking her head. "I always do."

He gave her one last smile before the team broke, both of them going out of the med bay door, Jim right, and Luna and Scotty left.

* * *

Spock turned to the person on his right, trying to keep it together as best as he could. "Lieutenant, sound evacuation, all decks." The lieutenant quickly complied as Spock turned out to everyone else on the bridge, knowing he had to address them. "As acting Captain, I order you to abandon this ship. I will remain behind and divert all power to life support and evacuation shuttle bays." Everyone turned to look at him, all unmoving from their spots. "I order you to abandon the ship!" Spock repeated, perplexed at why they all continued to sit there.

"All due respect, Commander," Sulu started, knowing someone had to tell him, "but we're not going anywhere."

The elevators to the bridge opened up just in time for Jim to hear that. "That sounds like the crew I know and love." When he came in, everyone had huge smiles on their faces, happy that their captain was back and unharmed.

* * *

As Luna and Scotty ran through the halls, they were holding onto the walls to keep from falling which seemed to be a theme on this ship lately. "One day I've been off this ship!" Scotty screamed. He wasn't sure if he was yelling at Luna or just the situation in general, but he was beyond stressed. "One _bloody_ day!"

The ship then launched forward just as the two got to the end of the hall. The two had to grab onto the corner of the wall while their feet dangled into the hallway below them.

* * *

Spock was seat belted in the middle seat, taking over for Luna, but he didn't give her enough credit for this job. So much information was running across the screen monitoring everything on the ship. He could barely keep up. "Gravity systems are failing."

Jim was also seat belted into the captain's chair, knowing that pretty much all he could do was wait for Luna and Scotty to fix this situation. "Hold on! Hold on!" Jim warned everyone as the ship began to roll onto its side.

As the ship rolled, Luna and Scotty lost their grips, falling forward before catching onto rails near the engineering deck. A woman screamed as she flew past them. They both reached their hands out to catch her, but they were too late. She continued to fall past them as they both watched on in horror.

Luna returned both hands back to the railing, afraid that the same was going to happen to her. She had just watched her fellow crew member die right in front of her, and there was nothing she could do to save her. If that were to happen to her, there would be a very slim chance that Scotty would be able to catch her. She stared at the red paint of the railing she was gripping, taking deep breaths, feeling the start of an anxiety attack. Her palms were beginning to get sweaty, stressing her out even more that this was going to cause her to fall. She would rather be in this situation over Jim any day.

"There won't be time for evacuation if we don't get power to stabilize the damn ship!" Scotty's voice brought Luna out of her panic attack. She knew if she kept focusing on the task at hand, and didn't think too much about the danger, she would be able to do this with lesser chance of a panic attack.

She quickly turned to Scotty before asking, "Can we restore it?"

"Only from engineering."

As the ship began to steady itself for a moment, they began to pick themselves up, knowing they had limited time before this happened again. "We have to get to the warp core." Luna told him as soon as she stood up and began running.

Scotty made the mistake of looking up, though. "Luna?" She stopped what she was doing, confused. She hurried back to Scotty, looking up as well. Debris was threatening to land right on the bridge as other crewmen were hanging on to railings for their dear lives.

Luna wanted to help every single one of them, but there was just no time. Some of them were going to die, that was obvious, but all of them were going to die if they didn't hurry. "Scotty, we got to get the power back on!" Scotty turned to look at her with wide eyes as she held out her hand to him. This was so much bigger than anything they had ever faced. "Scotty," she spoke while trying to keep her cool, "we have to go." Scotty reluctantly nodded before taking her hand and running with her.

The two continued to run as the ship continued to turn. They were actually getting good at running along the halls when they had finally made it to engineering. They hurried through the stairs, but the ship began shifting again. The two began to fall onto the rails, holding on as best as they could. That's when debris fell on the rails, knocking them both off. Luna screamed, but managed to hold on as tight as she could.

"Luna!" When she turned to look at Scotty, she saw that he was barely holding on.

"Hold on!" She screamed to him, knowing that after going through all of this, she was not going to lose Scotty.

"I can't!" He cried out.

Once his hand slipped, Luna lunged forward, grabbing his hand while adjusting her grip on the railing. Her breath quickened from fear as she began to lose her grip. She let out a terrified cry as she was holding on by just three fingers. Scotty closed his eyes, knowing they were both about to die. "Scotty," she called out, "you're my best friend!"

"You're _mine_!" Scotty yelled back. They both smiled to each other for a moment, and that's when she finally slipped, they both screamed, but then a hand caught Luna's.

When they both looked up, they began to laugh from relief. "I've got you, Lieutenant Commander!"

"Chekov." Luna laughed out, finding herself wanting to cry happy tears.

"Don't let go!" Scotty screamed. Luna wasn't sure if it was from his fears or a threat to Chekov for a moment.

As Chekov pulled, the ship began to rotate in his favor, making it easier for all of them to get on the deck. Once they were back on stable ground, they continued their run to the warp core, Chekov now following for assistance. "Even if we get the warp core online, we've still got to redirect the power!"

Luna turned back to look at Scotty before she slowed down, Chekov and Scotty doing the same. "He's right, Lieutenant Commander!"

Luna looked back and forth at the two with her hands on her hips, trying to catch her breath. Yes, she knew a lot about engineering, but this concept was making her draw a blank. "What are you talking about?"

"Someone has to hit the manual override." Scotty quickly explained before turning back to Chekov. "Laddie, there's a switch – "

"Behind the deflector dish!" Chekov jumped in, excited at the fact he knew what he was talking about. "I'll flip the switch!"

"Let's go!" Luna called before beginning to run again.

Scotty and Luna stayed on the lower levels while Chekov dashed up the stairs. Chekov was able to make it, and flip the switch just in time for Scotty and Luna to arrive right outside the warp core containment. Scotty ran to the nearest computer, but it immediately had a message for him, "Core misaligned. Danger."

Scotty's face went white, trying to press any button he could to get it to work, but nothing was happening. "Oh, no, no, no, no!"

"What?" Luna asked quickly.

"The housings are misaligned! There's no way we can redirect the power!" Luna felt the blood rush out of her face before he even finished. There was no way this could happen. "The ship's dead. She's gone."

She thought back on what Spock Prime had told the entire crew. What happened to him and the crew while he faced Khan. Spock was the one to die, but this was a completely different time line. Anything could happen here. And she was not going to let any of her family die. "I write my own destiny." She whispered before turning to look at Scotty, her eyes wide. He began to get a fearful look from her face. He knew that look. "No, she's not." She nearly whispered it before taking off further into the deck.

Scotty panicked for a moment before chasing after her. "Wait, Luna!" His voice was becoming frantic. This was the craziest idea she's ever had. "If we go in there, we'll die! Do you hear me?" Luna just kept running, though. She had a chance to save the people she cared about, and she was not going to pass it up. "The radiation will kill us! Will you listen to me?!" When Scotty finally caught up to Luna, she was already putting her code into the warp core containment chamber. "What the hell are you doing?!"

"I'm opening the door. I'm going in."

"That door is there to stop us from getting irradiated!" Scotty was now screaming at her. He would rather they all die than them living without Luna. "We'd be dead before we made the climb!"

Luna let those words sink in. Scotty _couldn't_ go with her. She couldn't let the crew perish when there was something she could have done. Her dad was on this ship, and he needed to explore this relationship blossoming with Carol. He needed a healthy relationship for the first time in a long time. Jim was on this ship. She needed him to live. With or without her. She had to do this, and she had to do this alone. "You're not making the climb." When Luna turned around, he opened his mouth like he was going to say something. "I'm sorry!" That's when she gave a right hook into his nose.

She stared at Scotty's limp body, knowing he was still breathing, and dragging him into the nearby seat. Before she left, she strapped his seatbelt on, and stared at her best friend. He was going to hate her for this when he woke up. She leaned forward giving him a kiss on his forehead, hoping he knows how much she loves him. She then turned around, and continued sprinting to the containment booth.

She quickly opened the door, and shut it, hoping the chemicals wouldn't be able to reach Scotty. She quickly crawled through the rest of it, and then she was looking the warp core directly in the face. The heat coming off of it was intense, and the smell was ghastly.

She began her approach, climbing through the thick wires and coils, sometimes finding herself almost slipping from the sweatiness of his hands. The baby hairs that hadn't made it into her ponytail were sticking to her forehead, and the smell was getting her sick to her stomach. Her eyes were feeling heavy. She just wanted to sleep. Luna on the other hand, knew that sleep she was craving was death. She couldn't die. Not until she fixed this ship.

That gave her some more momentum and drive as she had finally made it to the top of the warp core. The bottom claw was off from the top claw. If she pushed the bottom claw a little bit, the warp core would work again. She stared at it for a moment, trying to figure out the best strategy to align them. If she got too close to it, the heat would burn her. She had to kick it into place. She looked up, finding one of the coils placed perfectly in her reach. She jumped, holding onto the coil as her body dangled.

She swung back, getting the perfect momentum to kick the bottom piece into place. It moved, but just slightly. With a big breath, she repeated the motion. Again, it still wasn't enough. The next time she repeated the motion, there were slight sparks on the bottom of it. She let out a happy huff, before swinging back to get her momentum again, throwing a big groan into it, hoping that would help. It was working. She smiled again. The next time she kicked she screamed. Still, she needed to put more power into her kicks. "Come on!" She yelled as she crashed into it again. "You've gotta work!" Kick. "I did not," Kick. "Risk," Kick. "My life," Kick. "For you," Kick. "Not to work!" Kick. She revved up for the next kick, gathering up all of her breath and strength before sending all of her weight into it. "SO WORK!"

The two claws finally connected, as a blast threw her into a coil that then caused her to fall onto the floor. Her head hit hard, and when she opened her eyes from the fall, her vision was slightly blurry. She took deep breaths for a moment before sitting up. A large cough racked her body leading to intense, lung collapsing wheezes. With a ragged breath she slowly began to crawl back through the tunnel as everything in her body felt like it was burning. When she made it into the decontamination booth, she let out a harsh shiver before collapsing in front of the window, having no choice but to watch the condensation of her breath as her body stung with pain.

* * *

Sulu's eyes grew wide on the ship. He had to blink a couple of times to make sure he was reading this alert right. "Warp core is back online!"

Jim was also a little shocked. He believed in Luna and Scotty, but he didn't know they could work that quick. "Maximum thrusters, Mr. Sulu!"

"Thrusters at maximum!" Sulu reported. They were still falling though, finding themselves close to the clouds. "Stand by! Stand by!"

Jim began to grip his arm rests even harder at the fact that they were still falling. "Everyone grab onto something!" Everyone quickly did as he said, grabbing onto something, anything they could find.

The Enterprise seemed to levitate for a moment, becoming stable, before shooting off into the clouds. Everyone let out smiles of relief before beginning to report again.

"Shields restored!"

"Captain, power online."

Spock turned to Jim with a slight smile on his face. "Altitude stabilizing."

"It's a miracle."

Jim looked to the woman who was sitting off where Chekov usually sat. Right next to her was Spock, taking over middle seat. "There are no such things." As Jim looked to Spock, all he could think about was Luna. The ship was suddenly working again. That couldn't have happened on its own. Something just didn't feel right. Jim thought this feeling would go away once the ship was stable, but he was wrong. It was still there, stabbing at his brain.

"Engineering to bridge," Jim looked down at the intercom in the captain's chair as his stomach dropped all the way down to his feet. Whatever Scotty was about to tell him, was this why he was feeling sick to his stomach?

"Mr. Scott?"

"Captain," He sounded…upset. "Commander," Spock looked over at Jim, the two sharing a worried glance. He had to know, like Jim, something just wasn't right. "You'd better get down here. Quick."

Jim pushed himself off of his chair and hurried to the elevator, he almost ran into Uhura and almost shut the doors on Spock. Something was wrong. He could feel it. His heart was pounding and there was no regulating it until he saw Luna safe and sound with that proud smile on her face letting him know she single handedly fixed the entire ship. "Spock," Jim began as he turned to look at him, his eyes holding so much fear. Spock turned in his direction, never hearing his voice that nervous before. "I know you run on logic, but please just tell me she's going to be okay."

Spock gulped. Every bit of him was saying the opposite, but he had to say something to Jim. Something that would make him feel better. Jim was his friend, and so was Luna. "By statistics, when something goes wrong, both Lieutenant Commander McCoy's are always fine. So, statistically, I can only predict Miss. McCoy will be fine."

Jim gave him a little smile. Sure, that wasn't exactly what he wanted to hear, but he knew it was the best he was going to get out of Spock. The doors to the elevator opened, and the two ran out. When they finally made it into the engineering deck, Jim looked around, expecting to find Bones, but he wasn't there. He didn't know if he should take that as a good or bad thing. If Luna was hurt, he would have called Bones, he would only call Jim if… Come to think of it, he couldn't spot Luna anywhere.

Jim looked right into Scotty's eyes, but Scotty wouldn't even look at him, he kept avoiding eye contact. He just couldn't look Jim in the eye, not while knowing what he knew. Eventually, he shook his head before turning it to the left. Jim gave a quick look to Scotty before looking to where he was looking. It was the decontamination booth. The warp core. Oh no. Jim let out a scared gasp before running in that direction.

She was lying on the floor of the booth, taking in slow, deep breaths with her eyes shut. Jim's mouth was dropped in horror as Spock slowly followed him. He was sure his prediction had faltered at this point. Jim turned to look at Scotty, his brow scrunched in worry. "Open it!"

Scotty seemed to have tears in his eyes as well. He let out a big sniff before beginning to talk. "The decontamination process is not complete, you'd flood the whole compartment." Jim's face just continued to twist into fear and worry as he talked before looking back to Luna. "The door's locked, sir."

Jim gasped again, feeling so helpless. He couldn't help her. He promised her, he promised her father, he would always be there to protect her, but he just put her in danger. He just had to go after Khan. He had to get his revenge. None of that was worth it now. She weakly picked up her arm to shut the door between the warp core and the decontamination booth. Her uniform clung to her body as well as her baby strands of hair from all the sweat. She just continued to look weaker by every second her life was dwindling.

Jim turned to look at Spock, speechless for a moment. He knew he was captain and he had to give some sort of command, but he was at loss for words. He thought about Bones again. He had to be here. He had to say goodbye to her. "Get Bones." How would Bones be able to get through this, though? "Tell him he needs to get down here now." Spock nodded. He wanted to stay here and be with her and Jim. His friends. But he knew Bones needed to be here more. He took off in the other direction, but Jim was scared he wasn't moving fast enough. "Go!"

He turned back to Luna, her big, brown eyes open again as he slowly moved down to sit next to her. She opened her mouth, words failing for a moment, hurting Jim more than anything, making him take a deep gulp. She mimicked his movement before finally speaking. "How's the ship?"

"Out of danger." Her eyes were heavy, but he had to tell her what he always saw in her. A hero. He offered her a weak smile at the notion. "You saved the crew."

She gave him a small smile right back, making his smile just a little wider. "You knew I would."

Jim let out a teary laugh, making Luna's smile get just a bit bigger. He would have done anything to keep that smile on her face. He had to do anything to keep that smile on her face. "Baby," He began, the first tear falling with a sniffle following. "Do you remember when I told you I had only been in love once?"

Her smile got only a centimeter wider at the thought of how warm and peaceful they both were that early morning. "I remember." Jim put his hand up to the glass. He would give anything just to touch her one last time. "I remember _everything_ about that morning."

Her breaths were labored now, and a piece of her bangs were falling into her eyes. He wanted to push it back, and touch her face, letting her know it would all be okay. "Well, I was talking about you."

She laughed, that one little task obviously taking all of her strength. "I figured." Jim had to look down and wipe his tears away. She didn't deserve this. He wished he would have just went with Scotty. Sure, the roles would have been reversed and Luna would be feeling his pain, but she would be alive. It should have been him. He kept telling himself that over and over again. It should have been him. "Who the hell else would willingly put up with you like that?"

Jim laughed that time as he looked back up at her, but then all the pain behind her eyes showed up again. "I love you." He whispered. "Luna, I love you so much."

She slowly blinked again. She looked so tired, but she had to stay awake. She had to for Bones. "I love you." She inhaled and looked to him with tear filled eyes. Her face was getting red and her breath was getting even more ragged. "I'm scared, Jim." Jim let his head fall against the glass, his eyes shut tight. He gasped as the tears racked his body. "Help me not be." Jim opened his eyes before picking his head back up and meeting her brown eyes again. She was still gasping and weak. "Tell me something good."

Jim looked back to her, hoping he would be able to distract her long enough with the story of them. How they came to be and how amazing they had become. How in love they were. "Two people," he began. He was having a lot of trouble not breaking down into tears, but he was going to get through this for Luna. "Who weren't so different fell so in love. One was a pompous jackass." Luna laughed a little bit again and Jim smiled back to her. "And the other was this amazingly selfless girl. And that pompous jackass didn't know how to love…until he met her." He looked down from the tears as Luna felt a few tears roll down her cheek as well. "She taught him how to love, and from there on, he was never the same again."

Her eyes drifted from Jim's to nothing, almost in thought of what their life could have been like if hers wasn't cut short. "What happened to them?"

Jim looked back up at her. She looked so beautiful. Even now. "They grew old." Her eyes went back to his, the clashing of the light blue and dark brown seeming to be magic. "They had a few kids despite their setback so long ago, but they still thought about that baby all the time and who it would have been. What it would have been." Luna looked down in thought, a little smile on her face. Maybe she would finally be able to meet her child. "And her dad came to visit every week."

That's when her smile faded, and her face held panic. "My dad." She gasped. "My dad." Jim was biting the inside of his cheek as he began to cry again. "He isn't here. He doesn't know." Jim was trying to shush her, but Luna couldn't control her panic. "This is going to tear him apart." She let out another gasp, knowing before she was gone, she had to tell him something. "Tell-tell him that I love him."

"I will." He promised as he rubbed his face in thought. How could he deliver the worst news Bones would ever hear? Jim moved even closer to the glass then, if that was even possible. He could almost feel her diminishing warmth. "You don't need to worry about any of that. I'm going to take care of everything."

That's when Jim put his hand to the glass. She looked to it, and slowly, weakly put her hand up to his. They stayed like that for a moment, both of them crying at their drunken prophecy, from what seemed like years ago, was finally coming true. They weren't really sure what was tearing them up the most. The loss of her life? Their love? Or the fact that in her last moments, they couldn't touch or be together?

Her eyes slowly moved from their hands back to Jim's face, his breath quickening as hers became more ragged, making his heart tightened. "Jim." She gasped out, her voice so husky.

"I'm here." Jim assured, stroking the glass with his thumb, wishing it was her dark, silky hair. "I'm right here."

She let out another gasp, struggling to form words. "Jim." That word was even more ragged than the last. She let out a breath, her last breath, as her eyes rolled to the right and her hand fell off the glass, landing in her lap as her entire body went stiff.

Then, the doors opened, and her body fell into his waiting arms, her eyes still wide and unchanging. "Luna." Jim whispered in agony as Scotty had to put a hand over his mouth and shut his eyes, the tears falling down his face rapidly. He kept thinking of different ways he could have changed the outcome, but this was Luna. She wasn't going to let him take her place for one second because that's what best friends were for. And as he looked at his now dead best friend, he was finding it harder to even breath.

Jim began to rock her as he pulled her face close to his, his own tears falling on her cheeks while brushing her hair back.

"Luna!"

Jim looked up at the sound of Bones' voice. He couldn't see her like this. It would break him. When he looked back to Luna, though, he knew that this was the only way he would ever be able to see Luna ever again.

"Luna!" He called again. Bones' throat was burning like hell as he ran all the way from the medical bay to the engineering deck. Spock didn't give him much information. Just that something was wrong. Something was wrong with Luna. He grabbed the first medical supply kit he could find and ran with Spock trailing behind him, Bones not really caring if he was behind him or not.

When he saw Jim cradling Luna's body, he grew stiff and stopped running instantly. "Luna." He whispered it, hoping for some response. Her body was as stiff as his and she was pale with her eyes wide open. He studied her chest for a moment, and when he didn't see a rise or fall, he fell to his knees.

Jim looked up at him and then back to her. Bones didn't know what to do. He was still in shock, working his way into denial. Not her. Not his baby. Anyone but his one and only child. Jim was looking back down at Luna, never wanting to let her go, but this was her father and his best friend. Bones needed to say goodbye too.

Jim cradled her neck as he brought her to him. Bones leaned forward, grabbing her by her legs first, remembering back to the day she was born. He remembered the first time he had ever held her. She seemed so fragile back then, and as he was taking her now, he felt how fragile her body was once more. Jim still didn't want to let her go when he finally got to her head, making sure Bones had a good grip on her before closing those gorgeous eyes forever. That's when Jim let his head fall on her waist, the tears falling before grabbing her hand tight in his.

Once Bones completely had her, and he looked down at his vibrant daughter's now lifeless body, he lost it. How would they be able to make it through this? She had been the lifeblood of their trio, and she had meant everything to them both. They didn't think they would ever be able to leave her, and every time they looked back to her still chest, it was like a new wound was being carved into them all over again.

Bones adjusted his grip on her causing Jim to look up at him with blurry vision from the tears. Bones had put his forehead to hers, crying harder than anyone had seen before. This wasn't how this was supposed to work. She was supposed to bury him, and she was going to have to deal with that. She would grieve for months, maybe a year, but she would move on. "My baby girl." Bones cried out into her hair as his grip on her got even tighter. He was never supposed to bury her. How could a parent do that? No one was supposed to know that agony, but here he was holding his now dead daughter, and he wished he was dead. That would have hurt him less.

Jim continued to watch as Bones cradled her face to his cheek. She didn't deserve this. Not to die like this. She was supposed to live a long and happy life, but that arrogant, bastard cut it short. He began to feel all of that pain mold into something different. He was shaking. Not from the tears, but from…rage. It was like all the anger he was possessing was too much, it had to come out, and it chose to come out in trembles. The rage began to turn murderous, only red was in his vision. His breath was quick, and he knew in that moment, his life was going to be ruled by one thing now. Revenge. "KHAN!"

 _ **LMarie99: AH I'm so happy you liked it! Here's more for you! PS: sorry if this chapter is sad af, I just had to do it**_

 _ **Love. Fiction. 2018: I love you so much!**_

 _ **MisfitCarter: Thanks for the kind words about the play. AND I'M SOBBING RN**_

 _ **Okay, I usually like to stick to cannon, but I wanted to write a sad Bones. We always get sad Jim, but never an actually sad Bones (since he was barely in Into Darkness). This chapter also ended up being super long because I wanted to fight everything in here so sorry for that. I hope you all liked this chapter, and I'm sorry if you're sad now. Remember to review!**_


	12. Hope

Luna's body was immediately wheeled away into the medical bay by other nurses. Jim, Bones, Scotty, and Spock simply watched, not sure what to do. Jim was still thinking of one thing. Revenge. When Luna's body was out of their sight, Jim immediately began hurrying to the bridge. Scotty let out a loud sniff before hurrying after him, not wanting him to do anything stupid right now. "Jim!" He called after while following him by the heels. "You have to take a moment to calm down."

"I don't need to calm down." Jim growled back. His eyes were murderous, only looking straight in front of him. "I need to _kill_ Khan."

"Jim," Scotty's voice was painful as he moved directly in front of him, trying to get him to see sanity for a moment. "This won't bring her back." Those words stung both of them deeply. Jim swallowed a huge lump in his throat while staring at his friend. Scotty mimicked his action, finding all of this extremely hard to think about, but this was their reality now. "Luna wouldn't want you to do this."

Jim looked down for a moment, knowing that rang true in the back of his mind, but he _had_ to do this. For his own sanity, he needed the one who murdered his love to be dead by his own hand. He picked his head back up, his eyes steely and blank of emotion. Scotty stepped back slightly, scared of what grief was doing to him. "Luna's _dead_ , Scotty." He said it harshly as if he was the one who needed to face the facts. "She doesn't have a say in _anything_ anymore."

With a huff, Jim swerved past him, and continued up to the bridge. Scotty had to bite on his lip as tears began to escape his eyes again. He couldn't believe that out of all the people on this ship, Luna was the one to go. He let out a ragged breath from his tears, finding every movement harder than the next. He thought back to everything that happened before she knocked him unconscious. Was there something he could have done differently that would have stopped her? Probably not. Luna would have done this despite any measures done to stop her.

He had never felt grief like this before. He had his heart broken a couple of times by friends and lovers, but nothing stung as bad as Luna's death. With a big gulp, he looked off at where Jim had gone, knowing he had to stop him. For Luna's soul, he had to.

* * *

Uhura was still in the med bay, trying to help take care of Carol. She saw the doors open for a stretcher but could only catch the bottom half of the person. They were in a command dress with slightly heeled black boots. Uhura's eyebrows furrowed. She knew those shoes. She thought it was stupid to recognize something as small as shoes, but she _knew_ them.

Without a word to Carol, Uhura began advancing towards the medical officials with the stretcher. She felt her stomach drop a million feet, knowing something was awfully wrong. The closer she got, the more her nerves bundled together in her stomach and chest. She peeked over the curtain where the stretcher laid behind. She only saw the body, not the face. The nurses were hooking the woman up to a heart monitor and breathing machine. Each machine was silent, though. She took another step forward, knowing the person was dead, just curious to see who her dead crewmember was, and why they were so desperate to save someone who's heart was no longer beating.

With that step forward, she was able to see the face. Uhura let out a cry as her hand flew to her mouth in shock. One of the nurses turned around to her, but Uhura couldn't stop looking at a dead Luna. The nurse began to usher her away, but Uhura still had that image burned in her brain. "No." Uhura cried out while trying to break out of the man's grasp.

"Ma'am." He told her calmly, knowing if anyone saw Luna McCoy's body, they were going to freak out. "I need you to step away from the body."

 _Body_. That word hurt Uhura like nothing ever had before. "You don't understand." She cried out, still trying to move past him. "That's my friend!" Sobs began to tear through her body, still trying to fight him off, but it was much weaker now. "That's my best friend." She sobbed finally, falling into the man's embrace. He let Uhura cry on him, knowing how hard this was for her.

"Nyota." Uhura broke away from the nurse, seeing Spock standing there with tear stained cheeks.

She quickly ran to her boyfriend, the two clashing together in a tearful embrace from the events that had carried on today. Spock tried to comfortingly shush her, but it wasn't working. She had just seen one of her best friends dead, and she had no idea what happened or how to begin to move past this.

Uhura adjusted herself so she was able to see Luna's still body, but that was just making her cry harder. What had happened? That's all she wanted to know. What happened?

* * *

Jim hurried into the bridge with Scotty following him, still trying to urge him that this wasn't the best thing to do right now. Khan's ship had just fallen into Starfleet headquarters, giving Jim the homefield advantage when it came to tracking Khan down and killing him. "Search the enemy ship for signs of life." Jim immediately growled, his eyes only focused on the screen in front of him.

Sulu turned around to look at him, his eyes wide with fear at his captain's orders. "Sir, there's no way anyone survived."

Jim turned back to look at Sulu, his eyes staring daggers at the man who only questioned him. "He could."

Sulu turned around, trying to look for help from Luna to why he was acting the way he was. When he turned around though, she wasn't there. His eyebrows furrowed, and then his eyes drifted to Scotty. He had to know something.

Scotty swallowed a lump in his throat before shaking his head and looking down. Both Sulu and Chekov looked to each other, their jaws slacked in shock. Everyone on that bridge knew what that look meant. Luna was dead, and Jim's behavior was completely understandable, although this seemed like a suicide mission. Sulu looked down, he wasn't sure if it was out of grief or wanting to avoid eye contact with his captain, but he eventually nodded before moving to do what Jim had asked of him. "Yes, sir." His voice was nearly nonexistent, and that did hurt Jim, but he couldn't think about that right now. He had to put Khan in a shallow grave.

Sulu tracked him down, immediately seeing Khan drop from the ship. "Whoa!" Sulu gasped before leaning closer to make sure he was reading the information right. "He just jumped thirty meters!"

Jim's eyes continued to scan the screen, but this time quicker. "Can we beam him up?" His voice was hoarser as he spoke, but everyone on the bridge understood perfectly.

Chekov sighed before speaking, really wishing there was something he could do about this. "There's too much damage. I have no incoming signal." Uhura and Spock then came onto the bridge, hand in hand, knowing they needed to get back to their duty no matter how hard that would be for them. "But it may be possible to beam you down, sir."

Jim turned around quickly, knowing this would be perfect. This way, he would assure that Khan would be dead by his hands. He nodded before turning around. Immediately standing in front of him was Scotty, Spock, and Uhura. Scotty was just shaking his head at him, his eyes wide with fear at what was going to happen. "Jim," His voice was wavering as he stared him down, trying to get him to understand that this was wrong. "Nothing good can come from this."

Spock, he was tied in the middle. He knew Scotty was right, but he loved the thought of Khan paying for what he did to Luna. Spock looked to Jim, not knowing what to say or where he stood in this moment. That's when Uhura stepped in front of Spock, her gaze intense and ferocious. "Go get him."

Jim's eyes narrowed before nodding and hurrying off of the bridge. Uhura looked back to the two with tears in her eyes. Scotty just shook his head at her. "This isn't going to end well."

Uhura quickly turned to look at him, her eyes holding tears, but now also burning with anger. "What are we supposed to do, Scotty? Just let him get away?!"

Scotty was becoming frantic, not understanding why everyone else didn't get what he was saying. "Khan has beat Jim down multiple times! If he goes out there, Khan is going to kill him!" Uhura straightened up slightly, it finally hitting her what was going to happen. She turned back, and looked where Jim had gone, but it was too late. Chekov was already giving the coordinates. She couldn't stop it. All she could hope for was that the drive of rage was going to be enough to save him in this fight.

When Jim arrived in San Francisco, Khan saw the warm light of the transporter almost instantly. He gulped for a moment when he noticed it was Jim. He was shocked he was alive, and when Jim made eye contact with him, he saw that murderous rage in his eyes. He quickly turned his phaser to kill. Khan wasn't going to stay around any longer for that. He ran off in the other direction as Jim followed him.

Khan was a super human, and he was running fast, but there was no way Jim was going to live with himself if he let him get away. Because of his rage, Khan was leading Jim on a chase through the streets of San Francisco.

* * *

In the med bay, Luna's death certificate was being made. Bones took a deep breath while looking at his daughter's still body. Scotty was standing on his left since he was the only one who would be able to pinpoint her time of death. Scotty had the same empty look on his face, seeming to age over ten years in an hour. The usually youthful and goofy man was somber and grief-stricken while he stared at her.

Bones was the same way. Older. His eyes were bloodshot from his tears, and for the first time since he had discovered Luna's body, he wasn't crying. He felt like he cried out all he could, and his grief still wasn't even beginning to be explored. As he stared down at her, he remembered back to when she was a small child, and he was the one who protected her from the world's dangers. As she grew up, she could handle herself more, and found other people along the way that could help in her protection, but this was something no one could have stopped. She was going to save this crew no matter what happened to her. As he stood there, he wished he could have raised her to be selfish. A selfish person wouldn't have run into the warp core. She would be alive. That's all he wanted. As he began to think of all the things he could have done to change this outcome, he felt a few tears roll down his cheeks.

Carol was leaning on her crutches close behind him, wanting to be there for him, but knowing how. This was the worst grief a person could experience. She didn't know how to begin to be there for someone going through this.

Bones moved to his desk as Carol watched him walk off. She turned to Luna, taking a deep breath. Her face was so still, and she was so pale. This was so opposite of her usual demeaner. To see someone who felt so much express nothing was an odd experience. Death covered her, and everyone was just staring at her body. Luna would have hated having so much attention on her if she was alive.

When Bones sat down, he felt that draining, numb feeling again. With a deep breath, he placed his hands over his eyes, not wanting anyone else to see his tears. He turned his head, and sitting on his desk was the death certificate, awaiting the physician's signature. Himself. He didn't think he could do it. To put a rest to what was left of Luna's official death sent shivers down his spine as well as an additional wave of grief.

He continued to stare at the certificate when he heard cooing from nearby. When he looked up, he noticed the creature he had injected with Khan's blood. It was no longer dead, but…moving. Alive. That's when Bones thought of an idea. It might have been crazy, but he'd rather give his daughter another chance at life than not try it at all. Bones stood up to look at his monitor, taking deep breaths. He was either filled with hope or madness, but he wasn't going to waste his time trying to figure out what it was. "Get me a cryo tube! NOW!"

* * *

Khan had jumped onto an ascending aircraft, and with an angry growl, Jim jumped, just barely making it. Once Jim had made it to the top of the aircraft, Khan kicked the gun out of his hands. Sure, that made Jim's task harder, but maybe it would be more satisfying to take Khan's life with his own hands.

The two began fighting. Khan was strong, but Jim's insatiable rage was making the two fair opponents. He remembered back to when he was sent off the Enterprise a year ago. Spock had taken him down with one move. He repeated that move, sending Khan to his knees in pain before breaking out of it and punching him to the ground.

* * *

Once a nurse came to Bones with a cryo tube, he turned to him with a wild look in his eye. "Get this guy out of the cryo tube." He paused, knowing they still had to keep the original owner of the cryo tube alive. "Keep him in an induced coma." He moved to Luna, injecting her in the neck with a freezing antigen. "We're gonna put Luna inside. It's our only chance to preserve her brain function."

Carol crutched to Bones, knowing she had to help in any way she could. "How much of Khan's blood is left?"

Bones sighed as his eyes scanned the room to find the nearest intercom. "None." He moved to the intercom, quickly typing in Jim's code. "Enterprise to Kirk!" There was no response, panicking Bones. "Jim!"

* * *

Jim couldn't pay attention to any page. He couldn't call them back until he killed Khan. Jim grabbed Khan by the skull, squeezing just as he did to Admiral Marcus. "You killed her." Jim growled out. Khan was beginning to feel intense pain before kneeing Jim in the gut.

Jim fell to the ground, wincing in pain before Khan jumped onto another aircraft. Jim quickly jumped onto the aircraft as well. In that moment, blood fell into his mouth from a cut on his cheek that he couldn't feel. His adrenaline was too strong to notice it. Once he steadied himself to stand, Khan kicked him in the face.

Khan continued to deliver blows to the face and gut even when Jim tried to stand up to fight. Since the first time he started this fight, Jim was beginning to feel helpless.

* * *

Bones had placed Luna's body in the cryotube extremely careful as if anything could do more damage to her. He looked down at her again, taking a deep sigh and pressing a hard kiss to her temple. This had to work. This just had to work.

He quickly shut the cryotube before turning to Carol. "Activate the cryogenic sequence."

She quickly did as he said as Bones ran back to the intercom. "McCoy to bridge! I can't reach Jim. I _need_ Khan alive." Bones took a deep breath, wanting Khan dead as much as Jim, but they _needed_ to save Luna. "You get that son of a bitch back on board!" He took a deep breath, really hoping this would work. "I think he can save my daughter."

* * *

On the bridge, Spock turned to Chekov with an awakened hope in his eyes. "Can we beam them up to the ship?"

Sulu just looked down at his board, shaking his head before turning to look at Chekov. "They keep moving! I can't get a lock on either of them."

Uhura began to feel this guilt from urging Jim to go, but maybe she would be able to fix this. "Can you beam someone down?" Spock turned to his girlfriend with wide eyes, hoping – for her safety – they weren't thinking of the same thing.

* * *

Jim was getting his skull crushed by Khan. Jim tried to fight him off, but his vision was starting to get blurry. He thought he was imagining it when Uhura beamed down right behind Khan.

Khan got off of Jim as Uhura shot him with her phaser on stun, having to shoot multiple times just to slow him down. Jim looked down, finding part of the aircraft he could use on Khan. He ripped it off, and ran to Khan, slamming him in the head with it then broke his arm.

Uhura didn't know what to do. "KIRK!" She screamed, but Jim was still overcome with rage, and the want to kill Khan. Jim quickly flipped Khan down on his back before beginning to deliver punch after punch into his face.

Every single punch he delivered, flashes of Luna appeared in his head. He remembered her smile when they first met. He remembered how close they were when she buckled his seatbelt on the shuttle taking them from Iowa to San Francisco. He thought of her face, only lit by the moonlight when they shared their first kiss as the waves crashed into the rocks below them. He thought of how beautiful she looked when she came back from vacation with Uhura. He remembered her pregnant belly. He remembered holding her while she slept and let out soft snores. He remembered her crying. Her touch. Her laugh. Her still, pale face.

"He's our only chance to save Luna!"

Jim looked up. He was deaf to her pleas earlier, but that sentence woke something up in him. He slowly looked back down to Khan. He then felt someone grab his right arm. He turned to look, and it was Luna. Her hair was still mangled like the last time he saw her, and her command dress had a slight tear on the shoulder, but it was Luna. She let out a terrified breath before looking to Khan and then back to Jim. "Save me by sparing him."

Jim then looked back down to Khan, sending one final punch into his face to knock him out. When he turned back to where Luna had stood, she was gone. He then looked back up to Uhura, just nodding. A small smile then spread across his lips. He was going to see Luna again.

* * *

Luna took a deep gasp of air as if her lungs hadn't been filled in weeks. The sensation was almost too much making her begin to cough. "Don't be so melodramatic." Luna turned at the sound of her father's voice. She had to sit there for a moment, letting her thoughts run through her head, trying to make sense of everything that happened. "You were barely dead."

She began to think of her dreams. At least…she thought they were dreams. She was dead. For all she knew, she was in some sort of afterlife. "We were leaving Georgia." She whispered in thought as she tried to sit up. "And we stopped at that shop." She looked up at her father who was giving her a worrisome look at that random memory. "I got the blackberry tea, and you got the peach, but on the drive to Iowa, I drank all of your tea."

Bones sighed, giving her a slight eyeroll. "Well, I told you, you would like the peach tea better."

Luna couldn't help this smile on her face. She was going to take the grumpy old man's scolding because she thought she wouldn't be able to hear that again. She thought she wouldn't be able to hear _anything_ again. Her smile then slowly faded, thinking of what her life had been like since she closed her eyes in the decontamination booth. "And I dreamed about the night I first met Jim."

There was more silence until Bones finally interrupted her thoughts. "Darling," She looked back up at him, her face focused. "We left Georgia when you were seven, how could you possibly remember that so specifically?"

She opened her mouth, but an answer failed her. How could she answer that? She decided to ask a question instead, remembering she kind of had no idea what the hell was going on. "What all happened after the decontamination booth?" Bones took a deep breath before looking away from her. She knew that look. He was avoiding it. "Dad," He looked to her, remembering what it was like to see those big brown eyes completely lifeless. He didn't want to think about that day ever again let alone retell it. "Please, I have to know."

Bones took a deep sigh before moving even closer to the side of her bed, looking down at her hair before speaking. "After you…died, Jim tracked down Khan." Luna straightened up a little more, making Bones look back to her, knowing she was now worried about Jim. "Once he caught him, I synthesized a serum from his blood and we began the transfusion to bring you back." Bones decided not to tell her the difficulties when bringing her back, or how many times she flat lined. He didn't want to talk about it, and decided she didn't need to know about it.

Luna looked around for a moment, still not getting the answer she wanted from him. "Jim's all right though, right?"

"Yeah," Bones spoke, side stepping out the way so she could see him fast asleep in his chair. Luna let out a little laugh, loving his sleeping face. The last time she saw him, he was in such agony, she loved seeing him so peaceful. "He wouldn't sleep, though. He rendered himself emotionally compromised during the whole two weeks you were out. Spock's been running the place and it's been…interesting." Luna gave him a little eyeroll, but she quickly turned back to Jim. Bones looked back to him as well, but he didn't look as amazed as Luna. "So, I gave him a sedative, so he could go to sleep."

Luna's head snapped back to her father, her face of wonderment replaced with shock. "Dad!" Luna complained, loud enough, she was surprised that didn't wake Jim up. How big of a sedative was in his system? She just couldn't get over the fact that her father actually drugged her boyfriend.

"What?" Bones asked as if he was the most innocent person in the room. Luna simply threw her hand in Jim's direction as a response. "He was getting in the way!"

Luna just gave him a smile. She was sure that if she hadn't just died, she would at least have a comeback or sarcastic comment. Not today, though. She was feeling too grateful for that. She looked back to Jim, that little smile coming on her face again. She wished he could stay that peaceful. "Can you wake him up?"

Bones gave her that half grin she had practically grown up on before turning around to Jim, looking at how knocked out he was. He thought for a moment before deciding to just kick him in the leg. Luna gave her father a disappointed glance while Jim jolted up, his eyes still tired. "What happened? Who died?"

After Jim rubbed his eyes, they settled to see Luna, awake, still in her hospital bed. He got up in an instant, hurrying to her side, automatically placing his hands on the sides of her face. Light tears were filling his eyes as all he could do was look at her. He pulled her face in, their noses touching as both of their smiles were past their ears. Their lips were almost touching, and just as they were about to connect, Bones had to go and ruin the moment. "Hey!" As they slightly pulled apart, Luna's face was irritated while Jim's was whimsical. "No kissing! She just got a three-hundred-year old's blood injected in her and was unconscious for two weeks, kissing is off the table, she could exhaust herself!"

Jim laughed, his forehead falling into Luna's, afraid that something like this was never going to happen between the three of them again. "Dad," Luna complained. "I'm an adult, and I was just dead! Let me kiss my boyfriend!"

"Yeah." Bones spoke, stepping directly behind Jim. "Well, your boyfriend is lucky that the blood worked or else he would be joining you."

Jim rolled his eyes as Luna just smiled to Jim. Really, they both loved this family dynamic. It was something all three missed for the past two weeks. Although, Luna really wanted Jim in that moment. And just Jim. "Hey, Dad, can we have the room?"

Bones rolled his eyes as dramatically as possible while Luna simply threw her hands in the air while looking at Jim. He was so ridiculous. She was taken back to her first boyfriend when she was sixteen. Her father seemed worse now than back then. "Well, you know, Uhura and I had something to do with saving you too." He grumbled some more before agreeing to leave.

When the door shut, Luna and Jim both turned to each other, Jim studying every inch on her face as if any moment could be their last. Luna was smiling at him, a thought running through her head. "You said, 'I love you' first."

"And I will say it first again, no matter what life or alternate reality we're in, I will always say it first."

Luna looked at him, completely swept away with every word. "Wow," she almost scoffed. "I should die more often."

Jim's face went straight as Luna laughed at her own joke before falling into his chest. Jim couldn't help but eventually laugh. "That's not funny, I'm emotionally scarred."

"Oh," Luna spoke while picking her head up. She was patronizing him, but she had to laugh through it. Especially at the look of how helpless he was. "Are you going to be using that for the rest of our lives?"

"Maybe." Jim laughed out. "At least for this whole month."

She fell into his chest again, Jim leaning down so he could give her a kiss on the top of her head. He could stay like this forever. Luna looked up at him, taking a deep breath, Jim never getting tired of looking at those shinning eyes. "I think it's my turn, though." Jim turned his head to the side, not sure what she was getting at. "I _love_ you."

Jim moved his palm to her cheek, looking her in the eye while stroking her cheekbone with his thumb. He could look at her simply breathing all day. With loving eyes, he whispered, "I love you."

Then, despite her father's orders, they leaned in to give each other a deep kiss.

 _ **Purplestan: It was very sad, but it was low key really fun to write. Thanks for the review!  
**_

 _ **MisfitCarter: Ugh, I know. My own heart broke when I wrote "no". Lmao I'm sorry I'm a terrible person, and you know you love me :P That had to be my favorite chapter in this story even though it broke hearts.**_

 _ **Alright guys, we have one more chapter left after this one! I hope you all enjoyed, and I hope there are no more broken hearts from this lol. I hope you all enjoyed, and remember to review!**_


End file.
